Magick
by xPaige Turnerx
Summary: AU. 'It's like I said; you're the storm. Now let me be the rainbow that goes hand in hand with it.'A/B R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

The manor was unusually quiet that morning. The rising sun basked it in it's warmth, letting it's light spill in through the windows. Hardly anything was stirring outside the manor either, too early in the morning for anyone to be up doing anything, though in just a short hour people would be getting up for work or school or whatever they occupied their days with. In my ignorance, I stepped on the one creaky floorboard of the attic; freezing to listen and hear if I woke my sisters up. When no one stirred, that I could hear in the silent house, I relaxed and continued on my way over to the table in the middle of the room, setting down the jar of pig's ears and the table salt beside it.

The sun's light finally made it's way across the room, bathing me in it's warmth and I sighed, rubbing my arms and wiggled my toes. It could get quite chilly up in the attic. There was no carpeting or anything to insulate it that could keep the heat in and the cold out. The floors, walls, and ceiling were all made of wood -old wood- and the windows were as thin as sheets. The attic though, was by far my favourite room of the house. Like our late mother, we kept all the family heirlooms and other family…_things_ up here, so that it wouldn't be a scramble to hide if anyone came over. It's not like they did anyways; people tended to avoid us Swans like we carried the plague(me anyways; I was kind of a bad luck charm. Had been all my life). Anyway, there were a few old sofas that looked like they were 'in' way back in the fifties. Half a dozen bookcases along two walls, filled to the brim with all kinds of books. Old sewing machines, and boxes of clothes from our mother's mother and her mother. Even some of _our_ stuff that we had no use for anymore, like the outdated microwave, and things like that. Then there was the more…unique possessions; shelves of jars full of things most would find weird, whether it be pigs ears for example, or jars of what looked like slime. Little vials and cases of powders and odd looking liquids. Chests full of things most people couldn't even name. And of course, the most valuable, most precious and protected item that had been in our family line for hundreds of years; Duchess. A.K.A - The Spell Book.

Old Duchess was big, very big, and quite thick. Though she was exceptionally old, she was a sturdy old thing. I skimmed over the page that was opened on the table in front of me, looking over the graceful swoops and lines, strikes, and dots. The border on this particular page was quite beautiful, and the pictures detailed.

Humming, I picked out a single pig's ears with the tongs and pulled the old vintage welding goggles down over my eyes, still able to see unlike most humans. My sisters and I had the whole Steampunk look down. With a final confident nod and a glance at Duchess, I let the pig's ear drop in. What happened next wasn't exactly what I had planned.

Smoke puffed up from the stainless steal pot over the make shift burner I had up there and I was grinning until all the smoke was sucked back down into the boiling grey liquid. Frowning, I looked closer -

Yelping as I sailed back across the attic and toppling over one of the sofas as the pot and table exploded. I grimaced at the ringing in my ears and looked beside me to see Duchess seemingly unscathed other than steaming a little bit. The pot had launched up and was now currently stuck in the ceiling, the grey liquid, otherwise now known as my failed potion, was dripping down all the walls and windows, and the table of ingredients was shattered; all kinds of spices, ears, powders and twigs splayed around the floor. I looked down at my chest, sighing at yet another ruined blouse; the white stained grey in a big splotch over my stomach, my black pants steaming like Duchess as well, and the suspenders blown off and dangling around my knees once I stood. Tanya was going to kill me.

_**'What'd you do this time?'**_ Kate asked, in a groggy voice that sounded in my head. Damn, I also woke them up. I sighed and pictured a brick wall; effectively blocking out both her and Tanya.

The door to the attic swung open, slamming against the wall, and I gulped, looking at a seething Tanya. Tanya was the tallest of us all because she was the oldest, with long, flowing strawberry blonde hair, that had splashes of red dyed in it. She wasn't as pale as me, nor was Kate, but she wasn't exactly tan either. Kind of in between. She had one deep ocean blue eye, and one shinning emerald green eye, a straight nose that pointed at the end and suited her well, and pink lips that were currently pulled down in a frown. She had her hands on her hips, her nightgown wrinkled, her hair a mess, and bags under her eyes. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Bella?" She snapped.

I nervously played with one of the dangling suspenders as I looked around. "Oh, you know, just uh, just chilling." I replied.

Tanya screamed and jumped up into Kate's arms who had finally made her way up the three flights of stairs, as a squealing pig raced by out the door. She whipped her head back in my direction as I scratched the top of my head. "You made a pig? !"

I shook my head, ignoring the snickering Kate as I raced out after the little squealer. "I wasn't _trying_ to. I just needed something to turn the neighbour into one." Mr. Notwen's son next door was a pervert and I figured if he was going to act like a pig, then he might as well be one.

Kate shook her head, dropping Tanya to her feet. "Bella, how many times do we have to tell you; you're not allowed to turn neighbours into farm animals." She laughed. Kate was a little shorter than me, even though I was the youngest, and had pale blonde hair, super straight, with _black_ splashes instead of red. She too had the mismatched eyes, it ran in the, well, not family, but in the blood. She had a chocolate brown eye and also a shinning emerald green eye. Her nose was button like, making her seem far more innocent than she really was, and the dimples she got when she smiled just added to that factor, essentially making it impossible for her to get in trouble from anyone because you couldn't get mad at a face like that.

Now me…well, I was the black sheep of the family. Those two you could definitely see as sisters; they both had blonde hair, whether it be pale or strawberry, and their round faces. I, on the other hand, have a heart shaped face. My hair, also different, was black with blue splashes in it, and my skin was so pale it trumped both of their paleness put together. I was somewhere in-between them when it came to height, and my eyes were chocolate brown and deep ocean blue. The only clue to the fact that we were sisters were the sharp features(other than Kate's nose), high cheekbones, and physique; 'curves to die for' according to Tanya. Yeah, she could be a little narcissistic at times. Okay, _all_ the time.

From the landing, I lunged for the pig, narrowly missing it as it raced off down the second flight of stairs. I huffed, shimmering down to the bottom of the second flight of stairs. If you couldn't guess by now (Which would be really sad. Seriously.) my sisters and I weren't like regular humans. As far as you could trace back in the Swan line, all the daughters had been born with the mismatched eyes of a Witch. Yes, a Witch. And that's exactly what my sisters and I were; the most recent generation of Swan Witches. Not only that; we were unique Witches, since our Mother, Renee, had fallen for a Sorcerer, Charlie, and started a family with him. That was two kinds of magic in us, though both our parents passed away in an accident before we were old enough to learn about Witches _or_ Sorcerers. We had just been taught the basics; that we were different and could do things other people couldn't, and how important it was to keep that a secret. Everything else we learnt over the years were from the journals and books up in the attic, and what we could teach each other that just seemed to come naturally.

Shimmering was a way of transporting; the easiest way we found. There was also blinking, orbing, and all kinds of other ways, but they were much harder to learn. I found it was much easier to shimmer out and in, rather than just disappearing and reappearing when blinking, or dissolving into orbs for orbing.

The pig squealed again, but this time I managed to snatch it up in my arms before it could run off again, grinning victoriously. "Gotcha!" I cheered.

Tanya and Kate's forms shimmered at the bottom of the last fight of stairs, both looking up at me; Kate with a raised eyebrow and Tanya with a scowl. I frowned at them. "Bella, seriously? It's not like this was even necessary; we're _moving_ today. You're never going to see Mitch again; you don't need to turn him into a pig." Tanya sighed.

I raised my chin, marching down the stairs and past them both into the kitchen. Kate opened the door to the back yard, and the pig scrambled from my hands to escape through it, running off to where I couldn't see it. It wasn't my problem anymore anyways; it's not like a pig could do much damage when left to run around on it's own. It was just a pig.

The smell of coffee filled the kitchen, making me crinkle my nose as I sat at the island on the brown stool. Kate was sitting on the green one, and Tanya sat down on the blue one, waiting for her coffee. I spun the glass in front of me on the island around and around while I waited for Kate to finish with the apple juice, staring down at it intently. "So." I sighed and rubbed my eyes tiredly. I couldn't sleep lately; not since I found out we had to move, and that was a week ago. I might not be human, but I still needed sleep to function properly; I was crankier without it, lazier, and my stutter was worse. Yeah, hard to recite a spell when you stutter half way through it. Jeesh. "We're really, _really_ moving?"

Tanya sighed as well, getting up to pour her coffee into a mug. She stood in the corner, leaning up against the counter as she stirred in the milk with a spoon. "Yes, Bella. We're really moving. We can't stay here anymore, and we can't keep people out of the manor dad left us in Forks for much longer." That was actually my fault; I had sent Kate to get the Invulnerability spell from Duchess when we were attacked by a group of Warlocks. Warlocks were basically Witches or Sorcerers, only evil, and killed others for their powers and their Spell Books. Anyway, I was really the only one who was familiar with the book and Kate accidentally grabbed the Immortal spell (Even though whoever put it in the book, also put a note at the bottom of the page warning against it.) but it was too late because we read it. Well, we were still vulnerable, though we managed to fight off the Warlocks anyways, the only problem was the fact that we stopped aging.

Sounds good, right?

Wrong.

At first it was a little weird, and exciting. I mean, we would live _forever_ if we managed to not get killed. Who wouldn't want that? So, it was fairly awesome until Irina, A childhood friend, was killed in a car accident with her parents, who had been looking after us when our own parents passed away. That got Tanya thinking, thinking about the fact that we would outlive everyone we were close to and have to watch them die. That we would be here, never moving on seeing our parents and anyone else who had passed away. And of course, now that we weren't growing up and aging, we needed to move from our home here in Phoenix, as to avoid suspicion.

Like I said; bad luck. Care to know who was in the car with Irina and her parents when the accident happened? The only survivor? Or who was so desperate to buy her favourite book that had just come out that her parents took her to the book store? The same book store that was held up at gun point? The same books store where her parents tried to help and ended up getting killed trying to protect her and get her out of there? People around town had started to call me Azrael.

"It's not so bad though, Bella." Kate said, patting my hand and smiling encouragingly. "I've seen pictures; the manor is just like this one, it will be just the same."

I tried to smile, but failed miserably. It wouldn't be the same, because it wasn't _this_ one we grew up in. _This _one held all the memories. _This_ is the one we agreed we would all grow old together in. "Just the same." I murmured, pushing back from the island and exiting the kitchen. I heard Kate call after me, but Tanya told her to let me go. I was thankful that Tanya could tell I needed some space.

My room was on the second story with the library while Kate's was on the third, and Tanya's was in the basement. I slinked down the hallway, looking at the portraits lining the halls, until I came to my door and opened it. Inside was a regular room like any other with a bed, a closet, and bathroom, windows, and everything else, though I would miss it like no other. I quickly changed before throwing the rest of my clothes in a few suitcases, and flopped back on my bed. Kiki, my father's familiar who stayed with us even after he passed, was perched on my window sill. He was a small prairie falcon, mostly white with random little brown feathers on his front, his back, wings, and tale all brown, though the edges of his wings were black.

We too had a familiar; Louis, who was a big black cat with a white tummy, neck, chin, and paws. We loved them both to pieces, but Kate and Tanya still couldn't let Kiki perch on their shoulder without him getting all tangled in their hair. It was funny to watch them try. So, he was usually on my shoulder, or somewhere near me, since I wasn't a big klutz like the other two.

That's a lie; I was more of a klutz, it was just the _one_ thing I could do that they couldn't, and really, I had no idea why he didn't get tangled in my hair.

Kiki flew over and landed on my stomach, cocking his head to the side as his beady black eyes appraised me. "I'm sure _you'll_ like Forks. Way out in the middle of nowhere; open skies, fresh air. All sounds lovely to you, I bet." I grumbled.

The ring on my finger caught the light and shined in my eye, making me wince. I looked over at it; silver with a ruby heart on it. It used to be Renee's, and both Kate and Tanya let me keep it, seeing as they each had something as well.

I sighed again, spinning it around my finger absently. "I don't want to move to Forks. What could it possibly have for _me_?"

It caught the light once more, shinning in my eyes, and I growled, getting up as Kiki flew off again to my dresser.

There was a knock at the door and Tanya poked her head in. "Ready, Bella?" She asked. I noticed that she too was dressed now.

I nodded, trudging over to the door, blinking as Kiki perched on my shoulder as we walked down the hall. Tanya kept sneaking glances at me, and I knew it was because she was worried; she was worried about both me and Kate, but Kate didn't have any issues talking about how she was feeling and if she was pissed about moving. Me? Well, all those feelings talks were just uncomfortable and best avoided. I ran my hand down the railing as we descended the stairs, and followed Tanya to the living room where Kate was also dressed and waiting for us with Duchess in her arms, hugged tightly to her chest. We were hoping this little plan of ours would work so that we wouldn't have to spend hundreds of dollars on movers, but we also didn't want to risk losing the Book of Spells in the process.

Kate smiled nervously at me and Tanya, Louis sitting between her feet. "You guys ready?"

Tanya looked at me once more before nodding, and stood beside Kate, grabbing her hand. I stood beside Tanya and took hers, looking around the living room. "Remember to focus on _everything_ in the manor. Try not to forget anything." I muttered.

Tanya took a deep breath and looked to both of us. "Let's hope this works." She said. She would start off, then me, then Kate, and we'd all finish together, hoping to give it that extra oomph that would guarantee it would work. Hopefully. _"Let the object of objection,"_ She whispered.

_"Become but a dream."_ I continued.

_"As I cause the Seen,"_ Kate murmured.

_"To be Unseen."_ We finished, closing our eyes as a gust of wind whipped around the living room, shaking the manor.

When it settled down and everything was quiet, I opened my eyes, looking around at the empty room. The empty walls. The empty staircase. Everything was gone. Just like planned. Now all we had to do was pack up everything in the attic into a few boxes, our clothes and personal items, and bring them with us on the drive down to Forks.

**XxXxXxX**

Half an hour. Half a damn hour; that's how long I had been in Forks and already I hated it. Just driving to our manor, everyone turned to stare at us. It's like they've never seen a mustang before; granted Tanya's mustang was sleek and black and looked like it was the most expensive car in all of Forks so far…but still. And my bike. I could have sworn I saw a few jaws drop. Mine wasn't even fancy! This town was filled with a bunch of gossip eating, rubber necks. But what did I expect from a small town like this, right? Of course everyone would be swarming and curious about the three new shiny toys. This was probably the most exciting thing anyone had seen since, well heck, probably ever; this place was all woods and rain.

When we got to the manor, that was way out in the middle of nowhere on the edge of the town surrounded by forest - Inconspicuous enough for you, dad? - I thought that maybe, just maybe, Kate would be right. The outside looked just like our house back in Phoenix; a dark, victorian style manor. Even if I was human, I'd love this house. It's beautiful, really. I don't know why they're not used more. Other than being expensive of course. Still…beautiful. We had passed another, possibly even a tad more beautiful, mansion on our way here, that was about a ten minute drive back, and I wondered if they were going to be incredibly friendly neighbours that you kind of want to punch. It could happen. They live way out here, with no one else in miles; they might get clingy, and we really didn't need that.

So, while driving down the long, twisting gravel driveway, and looking up at our replica of a house, I felt a small twinge of hope. Yes, for the first time in months, I felt hope. Maybe I would like it here. Maybe there would be…something, to fill this void. I was so sick of this feeling, so sick of just being…empty. Numb. Searching. I hated the fact that I knew I was searching, because I was, I just didn't know what for. And who knows; would I know it if I found it? Or would I continue to keep searching for the rest of my life? Which would be a very, _very_ long time at this point. I don't think I could handle that. I don't think my sisters could either. They were starting to stress and I knew it was my fault, though I told them time and time again to stop worrying about me, that I was fine. But I had known them for seventeen years; they could read me better than I could read myself at times. They knew I wasn't fine. And hopefully, if I didn't, they would know when I was.

The old leather messenger bag carrying Duchess threatened to rip from the weight, and my fingers threatened to snap from my own suitcase of clothes and personal items. Not like I had much though; I spent money on wiccan items, not personal ones. Huffing impatiently, I glared at Tanya as she grinned and took her sweet sweet time unlocking the door. The large oak door swung open with an ominous creek that had me rolling my eyes, and a puff of dust. Lovely. We'd probably be dusting and sweeping cob webs for a week.

I didn't waste any time, charging forward past my sisters who stood in the door way wide eyed, and headed for where the stairs would be back at our place. Like Kate said, they were right there over here, and I quickly made my way up them, and to my room, throwing my suitcase on the bed. I made for the next flight of stairs, looking out the window on my way up, and saw Louis still sleeping in the back window of Tanya's mustang. Kiki was nowhere in sight; probably getting a lay of the land. I knew he'd like it here. Louis…it was hard to tell with him. He'd like the quiet, and how it wouldn't be so bright all the time, but I doubt he'd like the rain very much. And he might come to actually miss the sun. He liked to lay in it's light.

_This_ manor's attic, I did pause at. I wasn't sure what I was expecting. Our attic? Charlie's father's attic? A regular old attic?

What it was, was an old, dust, empty attic, just like at our place. I wasn't sure if I was satisfied or not.

I heaved a sigh and tromped over to the middle of the room, reaching into the leather bag and pulled out Duchess's stand that unfolded and snapped into place. When it was set up, I put Duchess down on it and looked around at the empty room. The window looking down into the driveway in front of the house, where my bike and the car was parked, was dirty and smudgy, as I wiped a clear spot. The twin trunks full of…_attic_ items were sat down in front of the car. I stared down at them before closing my eyes and reciting the incantation. _"A Time for Everything and Everything a place, Return what has been moved, through Solid and Space."_

When I turned around it looked just like it had back in Phoenix; minus the sunlight shinning through the windows.

"Ah, you've set up already!" Kate's voice chimed beside me.

I shrieked jumped, turning to see that she had shimmered in beside me. "Y-yeah. No sense in w-w-waiting." I replied shakily, holding my hand over my pounding heart.

Kate grinned. "Calm down, Bella. You'd think moving out here, in the quiet town of Forks, would help you relax and overcome your stutter." She giggled, looking around the room.

My eyes narrowed on her and I took a deep breath. "I _have_ overcome it. You just startled me, is all. It just comes back when I'm surprised."

Kate smirked at me. "Or scared. Or stressed. Or nervous."

Grumbling under my breath, I exited the attic with Kate in tow, following me down to my room. Along the way, we both pulled off white sheets from paintings and lamps and such. My room needed work.

Dust. There was more dust than bedroom in there. It was as if no one had lived there in seventeen years. Oh wait. Seriously though, the floor, that I was assuming was a nice polished hardwood brown, was covered in a thick layer of grey dust. The probability of being able to make a dustman was increasing greatly by every second that ticked by. The sheets on the dressers throughout the room, because this one had no closet (not like I needed one really anyways) were also nearly an inch taller because of the gathered dust. The bed in the middle of the room…well, it was probably stuffed with the stuff, and I'd be sneezing for a long time to come. The windows were also grimy, and it still grossed me out even though I knew it was because of condensation making it moist and then the dust settling into that to create the grime in the first place. Still, even that was disturbing if you knew what dust was made of.

This room seemed to face the backyard, and the little balcony outside the glass doors was a nice touch to the room. It gave the room a sense of class… Okay, not really; it kind of just reminded me of Romeo and Juliet. Now I'd have that image every time I stepped out onto that balcony, expecting someone in a weird ensemble to jump out of the trees talking about being a glove. It was a little disappointing to know that would never happen, because things like that _don't_ happen anymore. People are stale, when you think about it.

Deciding that we might as well get _everything_ done with today and not wanting to put up with all this dust and dirt another second, I marched into the room while tying my hair up and blasting my iPod that I grabbed from my pocket(I always kept it on me). You're insane if you think I'd clean a whole house without some tunes. Talk about boring. The sheets covering everything were tossed into a pile by the door for the very first load of laundry I'd do in this house, the windows were opened up to air everything out, and my suitcase was flopped in one of the chairs. The place was looking better already…sort of…not really…

I scooped up the sheets, turning my face away from them as my nose tingled with the urge to sneeze my brains out. Getting down all those stairs while not being able to see over the pile of said sheets without breaking your neck…especially if you're me? So not easy. But I managed, and plopped the pile down by the stairs leading to the basement where the washer and dryer machines were. Tanya obviously thought ahead, seeing as in the living room, which no one had touched yet, was an assortment of cleaning supplied. Mops, brooms, duster feather things (shockingly no Swiffers – does she not watch commercials? Swiffers are much more efficient!), Windex, paper towels, scrubbies, and all kinds of other soaps, latex gloves, those surgical masks so we wouldn't inhale the dust –too late- and bandanas. Psssh. This would not protect against all the dust and dirt. Although, I could modify with a few things I had in my trunk that was still outside…

I was going up the stairs to start on my room as Kate was coming down them to throw out a large garbage bag of something, though she screamed and jumped when she saw me, dropping it down the stairs and letting it roll, nearly taking me down with it. "What's the big idea?" I shouted, pressing myself against the wall still as the bag tumbled by.

Kate glared at me. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" She scowled, clutching her chest over her heart for added affect. "What do you think you're wearing?"

Kate herself was wearing what was downstairs; the red bandana, the little white surgical mask, her hair up in a pony. She must have felt I went overboard with the gasmask, white bandana, heavy duty yellow rubber gloves, and overalls, with a pair of combat boots, a belt holding Windex, scrubbies, the feather duster, another pair of gloves, a stack of paper towel, and I was carrying a mop and broom. I looked down at everything and then up at Kate, blinking. "I'm allergic to dust."

Kate gathered herself, rolling her eyes at me as she continued on her way. "Please; you get watery eyes and sneezy. That's _hardly_ allergic."

Yes, but it's _very_ annoying and irritating. I too, continued on my way to my room, intent on getting it done in the hour so I could move on to other rooms. This place was enormous, and it would take a day, probably more, to clean it all up. That was fine though, because time –at this point- was all I had.

I was right too. By the time we had finished just cleaning all the rooms, which included; dusting windows, lamps, railings, floors, anything really that needed to be dusted, then scrubbing all of them(luckily the constant rain took care of dusting and scrubbing the outside of the manor) till you could see your reflection in them perfectly, getting rid of cob webs, screaming and running for sisters when you found the homeowners of those cob webs, and rewashing all the dishes that were in the cupboards. Then of course we had to make sure we knew where all the crawl spaces, hidden doorways, and swivelling bookshelves (our dad, Charlie, was very cliché back in the day)were and make sure we didn't miss any. We rearranged furniture to our tastes, and made a list of everything that was too outdated, to replace. And lastly, we added all personal affects. Mine was really just tossing my clothes into the dressers in my room, and setting up family pictures all around the manor.

All of that took us into the wee hours of the morning. Well, it took me into the wee hours of the morning. Tanya and Kate passed out in the living room during one of their 'breaks' at around twelve with Louis on the couch in between them sawing logs, and since I had a slight case of insomnia lately and couldn't sleep more than a couple hours anyways, I finished up everything else. Kiki also finally showed up, scaring the wits out of me as he flew into the room to perch on a door knob.

The rest of the early morning was spent two floors above the others, in the piano room. It was probably my favourite rooms of them all, which was odd because usually your favourite room of a house is your bedroom. Well, for most it is. But I liked the piano room much more; it had shiny hardwood floors for sound to bounce off of, three solid black walls, and one wall facing the woods made entirely out of tall windows. Then, in the centre of the room, was a single grand piano, just like back at our old place. Renee had taught me how to play on it; I remember I learnt how because she was so excited to teach us three, waiting for us to catch interest. She would always tell stories about how she learned to play from her own mother, and she'd play nearly every day herself for us. I could always tell she was waiting for one of us to bring it up; there was always a unique twinkle in her eye or smile on her lips whenever one of us would go find her in the piano room. Unfortunately, none of us wanted to learn to play. We loved listening to Renee when she was on it, but other than that…it wasn't that exciting. Renee seemed to realize this, and lost that twinkle and smile, and since I had the time (Tanya and Kate were always out with Irina) I sat down at the bench and began tapping away at keys one day.

My absolute favourite memory is of Renee walking in the door to the piano room with a raised eyebrow, then seeing me sitting there and having the biggest smile I had ever seen spread across her face. I spent the rest of the day, and every Tuesday after that, learning how to play.

Renee passed away in the robbery, leaving Irina's parents to look after us, before I learnt how to compose my own pieces and play them for her.

I watched the sun rise from there, sitting at the bench with Kiki perched on my shoulder (Sleeping, I think) while absently tapping keys to the memory. And by watched the run rise, I mean, watched the large grey cloud covering the sky get brighter.

There was a light, warm hand on my shoulder that brought me out of my reverie slightly. "Hey."

Without turning my head from the windows on the other side of the room, I answered. "Hmm?"

"Did you sleep?" Tanya asked. I could hear by her tone though, that she already knew the answer and didn't like it.

"Hmm." I shook my head.

Tanya sighed, sitting down on the bench beside me. I too, sighed, before turning to look at her worried face. She reached up, stroking Kiki's wing as she spoke. "This isn't healthy. In the past week, you've slept maybe twenty eight hours. Maybe."

I shrugged my shoulders. "You know, the average American runs on more coffee than they do on sleep."

Tanya stared at me for a moment before smacking the back of my head. "You just made that up. Besides, you don't like coffee." It was true; it tasted disgusting.

Scowling as I rubbed the back of my head, still trying not to disturb Kiki, I replied. "That's all beside the point. I can still function properly, I _am_ getting sleep, no matter how little, and with all this extra time; look at how much work I've gotten done."

Tanya huffed. "That's another thing. You keep yourself cooped up all day in the manor; you never go out, and you never socialize with anyone besides me and Kate since Irina."

My eyes dropped from Tanya's, who's softened when she mentioned Irina. I looked back down at the black and white keys, tapping a few more. "I've only been here a day, and I was cooped up because I was cleaning." Tanya sighed. "And I don't socialize with anyone or go out because we just moved here; I don't know anyone or any place else."

"You know what I meant, Bella. Back at our manor, you still never did anything and never spoke to anyone." She said. I could hear the frustration building in her voice.

I still couldn't look her in the eye though. "This is our manor. You and Kate both said so; 'just the same' and 'it's still ours, Charlie left it for us in the will'."

Seeing she would be getting nowhere in this conversation now, Tanya got up and made her way to the door, pausing. "School is in a little bit. Get ready and come downstairs for breakfast." With that, she was gone out to do whatever it was she was going to do before she went looking for me.

Kiki flew off after her, now wide awake, which left me alone.

Kate called something to Tanya about her breakfast from the room below here, which I was fairly certain was one of the washrooms.

"Never actually alone." I whispered, playing an upbeat chipper tune that turned slow and dreary half way through. "But always lonely."

**XxXxXx**

**I really like the whole Witch thing. Most people say they're evil…well, I guess most people say vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and any other supernatural species are evil. I don't think it's so black and white like that. I think people can be evil, but not species. Because then, wouldn't humans have to be evil to? Wouldn't everything have to be then? Because there is always at least that one person (human, vampire, faery, whatever) that is evil?**

**My point was that I really like Witches and magic. I find it all fascinating, which is why I really love the show Charmed.**

**And if you noticed; there are a few spells, or rather, incantations in here, that belong to Charmed. I just kind of adjust some of them to fit better.**

**Review please! ^^**

**Oh, and pictures and stuff on my profile.**

**-Paige.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

A dark chuckle bubbled up my throat and escaped through my lips. Tanya and Kate were standing on either side of me, looking at all the eyes looking at us. I knew this was going to happen; both of them had spent the morning convincing me that everything would be fine and we probably wouldn't even be noticed in the sea of kids at school (I'm not one for attention), so I was ready for the exact opposite, unlike my two sisters. Every single pair of eyes in the parking lot were on us, and it was fairly quiet. Now, I wasn't certain but I think it was because of our attire; maybe, maybe it was just because we were the new shiny toys, but I'm pretty sure it was because of how we were dressed.

Tanya, my dear, narcissistic, skin showing sister was basking in all the attention; grinning at a few kids whose eyes she could catch. She wore a grey Stella McCartney lace jacket, with a Steampunk black and white alley striped gothic lolita corset that had a black bow on the front over top, a black satin burlesque skirt with lace trim, and grey heels that looked like a deathtrap if I were to have worn them.

Kate, on my other side, wasn't quite so...where Tanya was more...Kate was kind of... Kate wasn't one for going the extra mile for clothes. Hers was more simple, but still, compared to any other girl here in Forks, she was out there. She wore a beige WW2 military spat corset with leather straps around each arm, and a black skirt that belled out, with tall, black high heel boots, and her gothic aristocrat metal buckle tail coat.

Now I myself wasn't a skirt person, or dresses or anything like that. They were uncomfortable, you couldn't move in them or you'd end up killing yourself, and they were so revealing. Yeah, so not my thing. So, standing in between my sisters was me, in black combat boots, black dress pants, a white blouse with the sleeves rolled up to my elbows, a black leather harness, long black and white vertically striped gloves that were fingerless, a small dark wrist gadget, and plain dark vintage welding goggles that hung around my neck.

"If I'm not mistaken, the office is that way," I pointed to the door of a building that had the word 'Office' hanging over it. "Through this enormous sea of students."

Tanya shot me a glare before we made our way across the eerily quiet parking lot. We tried to pretend we didn't notice the staring, but that was impossible, and just made me feel awkward. So, by the time we entered the office and the door swung back closed, I let out a sigh of relief and slumped into one of the chairs along the wall where the door was. Kate sat down beside me, looking at everything and everyone, including the redheaded woman behind the desk who was staring at us with excited eyes behind her purple glasses.

The woman was nearly bouncing out of her seat when Tanya approached the counter, smiling a bright smile at the woman. "Hello. I'm Tanya Swan and these are my sisters Kate and Bella." She said, gesturing to us. Kate beamed and chirped a friendly hello while I just gave a halfhearted wave and grimace/smile. Friendly and chipper was something the other two were good at, though when brooding and bitter sarcasm was needed, people came to me. That wasn't exactly true either though, people never came to me for anything, they actually tended to avoid me.

_**'That's **__**because**__** of the brooding and bitter sarcasm, Bella. You've got a dark cloud hanging over your head all the time and it scares people off.' **_Kate's mental reply came.

_'Not so my lord; I am too much i' the sun.'_ I shot back, reciting the quote that ran through my head at her own reply.(1)

_**'You read too much.'**_ Kate snorted.

I shook my head, raising my chin as I gave her a sideways glance. _'I'll take that as a compliment.'_

"Aha! Here they are!" The redhead chimed, handing a stack of papers over to Tanya who still had the smile in place and thanked the woman.

We began our trek to the sidewalk that branched off into a bunch of others that all led to different buildings where different classes were, and at least now all the kids weren't staring, though they were whispering and pointing and whatnot to one another. "You know, I'm so very glad you guys convinced me to move and actually come to school today. I just, I don't think I could live with myself if I had missed this. I don't think life would ever be the same again." I mused, waving my hand around at all the kids.

Kate nudged me with her hip, a frown playing at her mouth, and a felt a small pang of regret. I hadn't actually meant to make them feel bad or anything; the words came spilling out of my mouth before I could stop and filter them.

Tanya spun around to face us, holding out two schedules and two yellow slips of papers with a bunch of lines for signatures. "Get your teachers to sign these," She said, handing us the yellow slips. I shoved mine into my pocket, not caring if it was crumpled. "And here are your schedules."

Quickly glancing over my schedule, I found that both my chemistry class and english class were AP(we needed to send them our report cards before moving here so they'd know which classes to put us in and at which level), and nodded to myself. Kate looked over my shoulder, wrapping an arm around it. "I know who I'm going to, to do my english homework." She laughed.

I stuck my tongue out at her playfully, and had the air knocked from my lungs as Tanya forced us all into a group hug. "Aw, my little baby sister is a genius!" She cooed while Kate cackled.

I struggled to free myself from all the affection, but it was no use; they were both clinging onto me, so I gave up and stood there, huffing to myself. "Alright, baby genius is going to be late for math now." I grumbled, satisfied when that got them to finally let go.

Tanya smiled at both Kate and I while walking backwards towards her first class. "Alright you guys, have a good first morning. We'll meet up at the cafeteria for lunch and sit together." She called, turning to stride off into the building.

Kate laughed and started pulling me in another direction; I assumed her class was relatively close or maybe even in the same building as mine. "Yeah, we'll sit with her and her group of fan boys she's bound to have by lunch."

Joy. I couldn't imagine a better way to spend my one free hour, then watching a bunch of hormonal teenage boys drool over my older sister. "Fun fun." I replied and Kate laughed once more before leaving me at the door to my classroom while she skipped off down the hall.

**XxXxXx**

Smoke had to be blowing out of my ears by now as I furiously scribbled over the page in my notebook. I sort of felt bad for my psychology homework that I was practically stabbing as I sat at the round lunch table in the corner of the cafeteria.

"Isabella."

My head throbbed with an ache that I knew would not go away until the kid left me alone. Being in his presence literally caused me pain.

"Isabella."

My grip on my pen tightened and my eyes narrowed at my paper. Ignoring him wasn't turning out as easy as I thought it would, though I should have known that, after trying to do it for an hour in psychology. I briefly wondered if I stabbed my pen into my ear, it would block out the noise coming from the boy's mouth?

"_Isabella_!"

"_What_?" I whirled on him. His blue eyes widened and his baby face scrunched up in surprise. He chuckled to himself and ran a hand through his blonde spikes before flashing me, what I assumed was supposed to be charming, smile.

"Do you have the time?" He asked.

If I ripped his head off, I'd probably get expelled and wouldn't have to come back to school. Sounded like a win-win situation; I don't have to come here anymore and he won't make any more noise. People would probably even thank me. But alas, I couldn't do it because deep down I did have a conscience (who I wasn't on good terms with now), so I glanced at the gadget on my wrist before answering him. "Noon."

His eyebrows shot up and he shifted closer to me to get a better look at the gadget. "Where does it say that?" He wondered out loud.

I scooted my chair back away from him and slid my books back over in front of me. "The clock on the wall." I muttered, going back to my notebook.

The chair on my other side was slid out as another one was brought up to the now open space as Kate and Tanya sat down. "Sorry it took us so long, there was a big line up." Kate sighed, setting her tray down.

"For sludge?" I asked, stirring the bowl of soup on her tray and raised an eyebrow.

She glared at me. "It's stew." Then looked down into the bowl curiously. "I think."

Gagging, I went back to my notes once more. "How was your day so far, Bella?" Tanya asked, stabbing her fork through a piece of salad.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Fascinating." I replied sarcastically._ 'Have you met Mike?'_

**'Another Notwen?' **Tanya asked, looking up at the blonde boy whose eyes I could still feel on me.

_'Worse. A Newton.' _I grumbled, well, as close to a grumble as you could get in your head.

Kate choked on her sludge, giggling furiously to herself and I scowled, though didn't dare look up in fear that Mike might strike up a conversation. _**'So **__**you**__** have the fan boys this time.'**_

_'Just the one. I can't fathom why, though.'_ There's wasn't really an appeal.

Tanya sighed, nudging my foot with hers. **'Because despite what you think, Bella; you really are pretty.'**

An image of a wall made entirely of ice came up as I blocked Tanya and Kate from my thoughts, forcing myself to get absorbed in my work. I didn't need any of their heart warming, hallmark card, pep talks about self image and loving yourself, and blah blah blah. I'd rather get unnecessary injections.

Though I was engrossed in my work, I still caught snippets of the conversation at the table. Jessica, from spanish, and Lauren, from...well, just now I think, were talking about some sort of dance coming up -memo to self; make plans for that day- while Mike and Eric were talking about a beach trip, and Tanya and Kate were getting a lay of the land and spots to check out from a quiet girl named Angela. Angela was the only one so far who hadn't tried to force a conversation from me, and also my favourite.

"Who are _they_?" I heard Tanya asked, but dismissed it. Looks like someone caught her eye...poor boy.

Jessica scoffed. "I see the Cullens have caught your eye." There was shuffling as her voice lowered. "The really big guy there is Emmett, and the blonde on his arm is Rosalie. They're together. Like, together-together."

Angela mumbled an explanation, coming to these 'Cullens' defence. "Yeah, but they're not all related by blood. Dr. Cullen and his wife adopted them all."

"Still." Jessica muttered. "Anyways, the other blonde who looks like he's in pain is Jasper, and the last guy there is Edward, and the final Cullen is Alice. They're all single, but apparently no one here is good enough for them."

Jessica tuned back into Lauren's conversation as the table broke out into their own little planets again, talking over and to one another. I could feel Tanya and Kate turn to one another. "Bella, look at them; they're gorgeous!" Kate chimed.

"Hmmm. Beautiful." I hummed back, crossing out a word and re-writing it.

Tanya grabbed my book, though my pen was still on it and thus created a long, black line down the page and through my work. "Whoops. Seriously though, _look_ at them, you won't regret it."

I glared at Tanya. "Why should I? Huh? Maybe they don't like people gawking at them like they're all some shiny sports car? Or drooled over like a slab of meat? I've had to endure it from hormones over there for just an hour and already I can't stand it; I can't imagine how bad it must be for them." That was a total overreaction; I knew that. I'm fairly certain I sounded pretty damn whiney too, but I was in a bad mood. A really bad mood. _And_ she just wrecked my homework. I'd have to re-write that whole damn page.

Tanya looked at me, placing her hand on mine as she lowered her voice so the other kids at the table, who were now staring at me like I might explode, wouldn't hear. "Are you alright, Bella?"

Sighing, I rubbed my eyes and nodded. "Yeah. Sorry. I'm just…I've got a really weird feeling." It started back in first period; my heart kept skipping a beat and I felt butterflies in my stomach. It would come and go as I walked down the hallways and stuff, but it seemed to be constant now. It was disturbing me since I was pretty sure I wasn't sick, and what kind of sickness would that be anyways?

"Like what kind of feeling?" Kate asked while everyone once again turned away to their own conversations.

I shrugged. "Nothing. It doesn't matter." I didn't even have to look to see that they both frowned. "Where's this table of super models I'm supposed to stare at like I've been star struck?" I asked.

Kate huffed, going back to her sludge after she nodded towards the opposite side of the cafeteria. Again, I felt that familiar pang of regret before turning to look.

And they were both right. Those people were insanely beautiful. Like…it almost hurt to look at. The kind of beautiful that made you think you were hallucinating because people just _didn't_ look like that. They couldn't. It was impossible. Yet there they all sat, perfection personified, the epitome of beauty.

The first one I noticed was Emmett according to Jessica's description, and it was because she was accurate. The guy, more of a man it seemed, was huge. If I had to guess, which I wasn't very good at; believe me, I'd say he was six foot seven. Maybe six foot eight. His arms were like tree trunks; complete muscle that actually suited him and didn't make him look like he downed a tub of steroids and was just a walking bulk. Still, you could see them through his white shirt, that's sleeves were bunched up to his elbows. His white pants and white sneakers really made his black hair stick out and contrasted really nice; it was slicked back save for a few rebellious curls that gave him a childlike quality, along with the giant grin on his face and dimples.

The next one was blonde. Her hair was long and flowing down to her mid back, perfectly straight, and reminded me of Rapunzel. And Emmett there could definitely be her knight in shinning armour. Actually, by how close they were sitting, I'd say he _was_ her knight in shinning armour. She too was fairly tall, probably taller than me; around Tanya's height. The two had a number of similarities. Her face that put meaning behind the words 'painted by angels' would have been even more impossibly beautiful if it didn't have the seemingly permanent scowl/glare in place. Her features were sharp, along with her face, and though she wasn't as…built, for lack of a better term, as other girls, you could tell she'd win in a fight. Hands down. That girl was oozing power. Even her name sounded like that; Rosalie. She too was wearing white; white jeans and a white cardigan.

Moving along from her was another blonde. His hair was sort of curly but also sort of wavy, a mix between the two really. And the colour too was a mix, gold and blonde. This guy too (probably the rest as well) gave off a 'I wouldn't mess with me if I were you' vibe. His face was hard and he did appear to be in some kind of pain, though it only showed in his eyes. His face though, was also scarred, three long ones running down from one of his eyebrows to his top lip, and then a bunch running down his neck and disappearing into the white collar of his button up shirt. He was tall also, with muscle but not quite as much as Emmett, and had a stiff posture that looked highly uncomfortable from where I was sitting. His fists were bunched and sitting on his white slacks clad thighs, and his feet covered in white boots were tapping impatiently like he couldn't wait for lunch to be over so he could race out of there. It made me feel a little bad for Jasper, how much it seemed to bother him to be sitting there.

The last male, Edward, was beside him, looking over at Jasper every now and then with brotherly concern like he knew just how Jasper was feeling and the extent of it while the others were only sympathetic. His hair stood up, defying gravity, and was a unique colour; a reddish brown…bronze, I suppose. He had a chiselled face, one that would probably make most girls swoon over (This was the one that caught Tanya's eye, I assumed.). He was scrawnier than the other two guys, looking like a boy among men, and was shorter too. His fingers were long, and I knew he played piano as well, just because of the way he was tapping the table, and I wondered just how good he was and if he too composed songs of his own. Like the others, he was dressed in white; a white T-shirt, and white jeans, with white shoes.

The very last Cullen was next. Comparing her to her sister would be like comparing night to day. Honestly. Their hair made that analogy come to mind the second you looked at them; while Rosalie's hair was long and flowing, a nice bright blonde, hers was cropped short and stood out in every direction, spiked in perfect chaos, it was black, like the ink of the many, many books filling the library back at the manor. Again, where Rosalie was tall, this girl was short, very short, and had soft round features; a button nose, fluffy pink lips. She was very petite and the word nymph came to mind when looking at her. I would have said pixie, and it would fit really, but when you hear pixie, you think pointy ears and two inches tall with wings and such. Basically you picture a fairy, and this girl was not a fairy. She was a nymph. Who was also in white (was that a common thing? All of them dressing in one colour?); white high heels, though she was still short, some sort of white pants; possibly jeans, maybe slacks as well, and a white coat with big black buttons. And since she was the last, it would make her Alice.

It was strange. Angela had said that they were not blood related, and that they all were adopted, yet I couldn't help but notice all the similarities they had. They were all very pale, even more pale than myself, they all had light purple bags under their eyes, and they all had unique eyes; a bright golden colour. Another similarity, though this one wasn't features, but possession. They all had it, whether it was on a wrist band, a necklace, a choker, or …nope, that was it; was a crest. I couldn't make out any details from there, but I saw it, and thought of my own.

An outline of a crescent moon, with a star in it, all black. It was on the left side of my neck, right under my ear, Tanya's was on her left hand, opposite side of her palm, and Kate's was on her left wrist just below the palm. It was our family's crests; Charlie's father's and father's father's, was a star, and Renee's mother's mother's was a an outline of a crescent moon; so ours was a combination of them both. Two covenants formed into one.

I knew that these Cullens couldn't be Witches though because the girls didn't have mismatched eyes, and the guys wouldn't be hanging around humans that closely if they were Sorcerers.

"So? What's the verdict?" Kate asked.

I shrugged. "Yes, they're all very pretty." I agreed and started packing up my things to head to my next class.

Tanya rolled her eyes, gathering her own stuff as well. They were thinking along the same lines as me; not wanting to get caught in the mass of students when the bell rang. "Well you can't have them; I called Edward and Kate called Jasper."

I snorted. "Wasn't interested, but good to know; I'll be sure to warn the other girls of the school."

Kate hooked her free arm through mine as Tanya grabbed her own tray as well as Kate's to dump. "No one _ever _catches your interest, Bella. What's wrong with you, girl?" She laughed.

Scoffing, I paused to wait for Tanya to dump the trays. "Why am _I_ the one to blame for that? I can't help it if people aren't interesting."

Tanya bumped me with her hip before grabbing the door. "People _are_ interesting, Bella. You just never notice it. You never give them a chance."

Whatever. "People are shallow, self centred, narrow minded beings. I really don't see the whole desire there." I muttered, waving to the two of them as I made my way to the chemistry room.

The seat in the very back corner looked inviting, so that's where I went and sat after giving the teacher my slip to sign. The room, since it was a chemistry lab, was set up differently from most classrooms. There were no desks in here; rather long black tables, four on one half of the room, one in front of the other and another and another, all the way to the back, and four on the other side. Each long table had one sink in the very middle, separating spots for two people to sit on each side, and each side of the table had a place to hook up a Bunsen burner, and an outlet for a two plugs.

By the time I had sat down and opened up my books, the bell had rung. Leaning back against the back counter, I crossed my arms and frowned down at my lap, hoping no one decided to sit by me. Or that there was no seating plan that would force anyone to sit by me. And for a while there, I started to think that maybe I was lucky and no one really _would_ sit there; it was pretty calm since everyone was in the classroom, so I smiled and sat back up properly.

Only to jump out of my skin as I saw the chair next to me was taken.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." A high, soprano voice that sounded like jingling bells, said. I could hear the little bit of mirth in it thought.

I just raised my hand and shook my head, waving it off. I didn't want to say anything and chance stuttering. Once I calmed my racing heart, I replied. "It's fine. Just didn't see you there."

"I'll make more noise next time." Alice Cullen said.

Even this close up, she was still painfully beautiful. Her porcelain looking skin was flawless and blemish free. Her golden eyes were a sight to see; a deep honey colour with brighter gold specs within them, surrounded by thick black lashes. They weren't contacts either; they were natural, yet not because people didn't have eyes like those. No one had eyes like those without them being fake. Still, it worked for the rest of her family and herself. She didn't even have to wear any makeup; the makeup would probably obscure her beauty.

"I'll be more aware next time." I added.

Alice smiled a small smile, sticking out her hand. "I'm Alice. Alice Cullen."

I nodded. "I know." Frowning, I took her hand that was shocking cold, but oddly nice. I didn't like holding or shaking hands with people who had clammy ones. "That sounds a little creepy, doesn't it?"

Alice giggled and shook her head. "Normally it would, but in a town this small; everyone knows everything. Including the new kids who haven't even been here a day."

I shrugged, letting go of her hand. "I'm Isabella Swan."

Alice grinned. "I know."

A hint of a smile played at my lips. "Making fun of me? Really? On my first day?"

Propping my elbow up on the black tabletop, I leaned my chin on it, looking around the classroom at all the other kids who were talking to one another as the teacher set up and the front of the room. "Innocent fun, Isabella." Alice said, opening up her own notebook to the first page. "I'd ask you how you're liking Forks so far, but I'm sure you've been asked that about a thousand times today."

"Meh. Not really. No one's got that far in a conversation yet." I replied, doodling in the corner of my page.

"Oh?"

"I'm not so good at interacting with people."

Alice pursed her lips as she looked at me. "You seem to be doing just fine right now."

I pointed at her. "That's all you. Which raises the question, why. Aren't you and your family supposed to be all 'better than thou' and ignore everyone or something?" I asked, thinking back to Jessica at lunch.

Alice smiled. "That's my siblings. I'm actually quite friendly and talk with everyone."

I furrowed my brows. "Did you just agree that your siblings think they're better than everyone else?"

Alice giggled. "They don't act like that. They're just not so good at interacting with people either." She paused. "Though they _are_ better than most people around here. So am I."

Huh. "Well, at least you're confident."

Alice smiled again and shook her head. "Not like that, silly. I just meant that people around here are a little…prejudice, and can be nasty." I thought of Jessica and Lauren and had to agree. "We're better in the way that we don't _actually_ think we're better than everyone else like some others here, and we're nice to everyone."

"Even your sister?" I asked skeptically.

Alice looked away for a second. "Okay, not necessarily _nice_, but we are polite to everyone."

This was probably the longest conversation I had today. I was thankful when the teacher began his lesson, not because I didn't want to talk to Alice anymore, but because I couldn't think of anything else to say and I wanted to avoid that dreadful lull. Alice smiled once more at me before turning to take notes which I did as well.

This class was going to be a cake walk; that, I deduced after twenty minutes of notes. By the end of the class, I was sure I could teach it myself and shook my head as I gathered up my things. Alice said her goodbye before skipping off to her next class, and I made my way to mine. Gym. Luckily the teacher said I could sit out for the day since it was my first. At the end of the day, I stood waiting at the Mustang for what felt like ages until Tanya walked out of her building; chatting with one of the Cullens. Edward seemed genuinely interested in whatever she was saying, and waved goodbye as she strode over to the car, meeting halfway with Kate.

"Already reeling one in?" I asked as she fished out her keys.

Tanya beamed at me. "I _adore_ him! He's so smart and handsome and nice and-"

"We get it." Kate laughed.

"Talking to him was so easy and comfortable." She said. I thought of Alice and how easy that had seemed. It must have run in the family. "He was a little upset at the beginning of class, muttering something about not being able to read me, but other than that; it was great."

I snorted. "Yeah, you're a real mystery."

Tanya smiled at me, enveloping me in a hug. "Not even your sarcasm can bring me down. I can't wait for tomorrow!" She chimed, waving at the silver volvo that pulled out of the parking lot.

That makes one of us. I wasn't sure if I could put up another day of Mike Newton.

Tanya unlocked the car and we all piled in and sped off home.

**XxXxXx**

**Chapter deux!**

**The end feels a little rushed to me, but I'm sick so I don't feel like fixing it.**

…**Does that even make sense? My head feels fuzzy, so I don't know if I'm making much sense or not right now; forgive me… I hope the chapter does then. Make sense, I mean.**

**(1) - Hamlet quote! Good read. For those of you who haven't read it, I suggest you do. Or, you know, watch the movie I guess. Or even watch Lion King, which is just a newer version of it…with animals.**

**Pictures on my profile.**

**Review please.!**

**-Paige.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

Once again, the manor was silent. Everything still. Everything quiet. Outside, however, was a different story altogether. It was pouring out, big fat rain drops that each sounded like it's own boom of thunder as they landed on the roof of the old Victorian manor. Tapping against the windows of the attic, giving them that rippling look that made it impossible to make out any detail through the window. The only certain thing you could see was the colours of the back yard; green and grey. Green and grey out the window facing the front, and the window facing the driveway. Since there was no sunlight, thanks to the rain and it's ran clouds, it was completely dark in the attic; the lights were off.

But that wasn't entirely true; with every crack of lightning, the room would flash bright and the furniture of the room could be seen, only to be swallowed back up by the shadows once it was over.

And that's where I was, sitting on one of the sofas in the corner of the room by an old wardrobe, hugging my knees to my chest with tears rolling down my face. That night had been no different from all the others as of late. Get ready for bed, lay there staring up at the dark ceiling, turn onto my side, lay in silence, turn to my other side, get up to get a drink of water, and repeat it all over again. I had come up here in hopes of sleeping, or at least just a little nap, because when I was a kid, the rain used to have me out like a light.

That had done the trick too. At least, I _thought_ it did. I'm fairly certain I was sleeping for a few hours, because the next time I glanced at the grandfather clock on the opposite wall, it had said a few hours had gone by. Ever since then, I had sat up, and just watched the room flash with the lightning.

Louis had made his way up here at some point as well, because he was in a ball at the other end of the sofa, all cuddled into the quilt I had brought up with me. I didn't dare to disturb him, afraid he might not be able to get back to sleep afterwards either, and so I let him be, watching his white furry little chest rise and fall with every breath.

Everything was just so serene. So calming and peaceful. Really, it was the ideal scene to fall asleep in, and I was in silent tears wondering why I just couldn't. I _needed_ sleep. I couldn't think properly, I felt weird, and I was stressed out of my mind. Apparently emotional as well. Why couldn't I just fall asleep like everyone else?

Story of my life. I could never do anything like anyone else. Everything about me had to be different and a hassle. Renee said it made me who I was, and that I should like it because it was a part of me, but I could never see anything good about it. Still couldn't. It was something I had always been jealous of with the other two. They were so much alike. They could be twins really. Yes, Kate was the one person on the planet I was closest with, and Tanya loved both her _and_ me fiercely, having that one extra soft spot for me because 'I was the baby', but when it came down to it, they were more alike than I was with either.

Louis stretched and yawned, slowly making his way over to curl back up right beside me, purring. I sniffled and wiped my cheeks on my knees, before reaching a hand down to gently pet him. His purring rose in volume. That was something I always adored about him; he always seemed to know how you were feeling, and could be a comfort blanket if you needed him to be. There was just something about him that made you smile. Granted, mine was a teary smile, but still.

That's it. I was done with this insomnia. There had to be something I could do; I wasn't _useless._ With that in mind, I got to my feet, scooping up Louis in one arm and grabbing Duchess in another. I paused, feeling a dull throb in my head, almost like a headache but not quite; it was similar to the feeling I got whenever Tanya or Kate tried prying into my mind, except this was different. I almost felt like I was being watched, and got a tingle down my spine. Concentrating harder on blocking me off completely, the feeling vanished, and I continued to the door of the attic, shimmering down to the kitchen once there. The attic in this manor, and the one back in Phoenix, had protection crystals in all the corners of the room, so actual magic like shimmering and spells and stuff, wouldn't work in there. Luckily potions were fine, so that was where we made them so no one would stumble upon anything in the kitchen, but since I still didn't have any tables or anything set up in there yet for that, I _would_ have to work in the kitchen. I wasn't too worried though; we lived in the middle of the forest, no one anywhere near us.

Quickly shimmering back upstairs outside the door to the attic, I entered, grabbing a few ingredients I would need, before shimmering back down to the kitchen and placing them all on the island. Louis sat on the island as well, behind an opened Duchess, and soon Kiki came to see who was up and about; perching on my shoulder.

Clad in green and blue plaid pyjama bottoms, a green T shirt, and large bunny slippers, I set out to make a powerful potion that would _hopefully_ put me to sleep. After a few minutes, I had everything laid out before me, ready to start; a giant glass bowl (that I think was supposed to serve fruit punch, but oh well), a variety of wooden spoons, a bottle of sleeping pills, and a few little things from the attic to give it an extra boost to help, with Duchess flipped open to a page of all the ingredients that were edible and wouldn't, you know, kill me if I drank or ate them.

Looking to Kiki on my shoulder and then Louis who was looking down at Duchess, I nodded to myself. "It'll be like an energy shake…only, the opposite. A Sleep Shake." I filled the bottom of the bowl with a little bit of juice, added a few of the pills, a dash of the green vile, a little bit of the clear one, a speck of the red sprouts, and stirred well before pouring it all into the blender on the counter. "Something for the taste…hmm…" I shivered at the open freezer, reaching in to grab the tub of ice cream, and dropped a few spoonfuls in, before blending it all up and pouring it into a cup.

"Alright, here goes nothing." I said, wearily looking down at the cup of, well, sludge. It was more of a sludge then Kate's soup. Oi. Shaking my shoulders and taking a deep breath, I took a big gulp of it…

Hacking and coughing and spitting it all out into the skink beside me. "Ugh…Gross…" I gagged again before rinsing my mouth, and turning to the bowl to rinse it out as well.

Louis was looking at me with his bright green eyes, his head slightly cocked to the side. I shook mine. "Round two. Kiki, I need the flour; as muffins, these _will_ taste good." I nodded my head to the left and Kiki flew over to one of the open cupboards, all the way to the top shelf where I couldn't reach. Giving a short little whistle and pointing to the bag of flower, he walked behind it and started pressing up against it until it fell down into my hands. It still amazed me when he did that, and _I_ was the one who taught him.

…Renee used to hide the cookie jar on the top shelf as well when Kate, Tanya, and I were little kids.

He stayed on the top shelf of the cupboard, watching me from there as I dumped a cup of flour into the bowl and went to the fridge for butter.

**XxXxXx**

"Bella…Bella…Bella, wake up. Come on, wake up, you gotta get ready for school!"

Groaning, I swatted at the hand that was shaking my shoulder and trying to wake me. "Go…away…_now._"

There was giggling before Kate's voice sounded again. "Alright, but I _tried_ to do it the innocent way." I frowned, not liking that statement one bit and was about to get up when something fell on my face, cracking open, and started leaking.

Shooting up into a sitting position, I furiously wiped away the egg off my face, growling to myself as I glare up at Kate. _"Seriously?"_

"You wouldn't wake up!" Kate exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Tanya!" I whined, looking around for my older sister who both Kate and I often tattled on one another to.

Tanya's voice came from somewhere behind the kitchen island, and I realized with a start that I was on the floor beside it. "I'm going to have to side with Kate on this one, Bella, mostly because this kitchen is a mess and I hate cleaning." She grumbled, coming into view as she stepped around me to throw out a bunch of napkins in the garbage. "What on earth were you doing here?" She said, though she seemed to be in a good mood this morning.

When I got to my feet, I grimaced at the scene. The island top was covered in flour and sugar, there were egg shells on the counters and an empty carton of milk, most of the cupboards were open with numerous dirty dishes around, it was all a big general mess. "I was making muffins…and then cookies…buns…cake…and gingerbread men."

Kate stuck her finger in a small yellow bowl, licking the chocolate icing off and smiled. "Why?"

"I couldn't sleep. Those pills weren't helping so I figured I'd give them some help. Only the concoction tasted disgusting, so I had to put it in something delicious. But then I realized that it was pretty strong, so I had to keep putting it in something else so I couldn't taste it. Ginger was the only thing that could cover it, and gingerbread men are really good."

Tanya wrapped her arm around my shoulders and squeezed. "Well at least you slept. How long?" She asked.

I looked at the clock. "Six hours."

Tanya beamed. "That's much better than your usual two or three. You have leftovers for tonight, right?" She asked, looking at everything.

There was still a large cake, a tray of cookies, another tray of buns, muffins, _and_ gingerbread men left. "Yeah, I've definitely got enough."

Tanya nodded. "Good. Go get ready; we've got to leave in half an hour." I gaped at her. "I let you sleep for as long as I could; you looked peaceful. " Tanya pinched my cheek and I glared at her. "Just think, with all this sleep; you're going to _glow_ today, and those bags under your eyes are hardly noticeable now."

And just like that my mood was wrecked. I sneered down at the floor. "Lovely. It's going to be even harder to avoid Newton now. I'm going to have to beat him off with a stick."

Kate and Tanya frowned at the bitterness in my voice; Kate bumping her shoulder into Tanya's with a glare like it was her fault. It wasn't really. It was Newton's… And I suppose sort of mine for being bitter. But mostly Newton's.

**XxXxXx**

After a quick fifteen minute shower, I rushed to get ready, so I had to skip blow drying my hair and let it air dry, which meant it would get a little curly/wavy. Stupid hair. I raced down the stairs with my books, and a novel to read during lunch, or any time someone tried to strike up a conversation so I could appear polite when I declined and read my book. And of course it was a thick book, in case Mike got touchy feely.

Tanya was locking the door as I slid on my black boots and out the door under her umbrella. Since today was gloomy looking, I decided I'd match, and was dressed in black pinstripe pants, a grey blouse, and a black pinstripe vest, with a black leather wrist band and black vintage welding goggles on top of my head, holding my hair out of my face. Tanya wore another skirt, black with lace at the bottom, and a red corset all under her coat, with red high heels. Kate wore the same tall high heel boots with a black skirt and a black blouse under her coat as well, with her own little wrist gadget and goggles hanging from her neck.

Same as yesterday, we piled into Tanya's Mustang, those two in the front with me in the back as I blared my iPod and rolled up the sleeves of my blouse to my elbows. Looking out the windows reminded me of that morning, way back up in the attic, and how you couldn't really see out of them. Curious (and trying to distract myself from those damn stomach butterflies and dizzy feeling), I placed my palm on the window, feeling each rain drop's vibration as it pelted the window. I looked out the front windshield just to make sure Tanya had the wipers on, though I knew she would; she wouldn't risk crashing and damaging her car like that, and noticed that this morning, we weren't the only ones out on this lonely road.

A sleek silver Volvo was in front of us, speeding down the road just like we were, and I remembered it from school. Glancing at Tanya, I took in the large grin on her face, and then looked to Kate who also had a small smile on her face as she looked out the passenger window. I looked down at my watch and gasped. We were early. "Was this planned?" I asked.

Tanya scoffed while Kate made a show of looking out her window. "Of course not, Bella. We're just going to school; it would make sense if we ran into our neighbours who also go to that school." She said, flippantly.

Hm. Kate was the weak link of the two. I turned to her. "Was this planned?" I asked.

She shifted, glancing at Tanya who glared and then me before shrugging. I narrowed my eyes. "Yes, it was planned. Tanya did it though!"

My eyes shot to Tanya who made some sort of embarrassed noise as she looked over at Kate. "_You_ were the one who found out what time they usually arrived."

"That's _creepy_." I murmured to her.

Kate blushed and pointed a hand at Tanya. "_You_ were the one who suggested 'bumping into them in the parking lot before school'!"

"That's _desperate_." I muttered back to _her_.

"I…No, this is just a _chance_ meeting. There was no planning – Kate; shush!" Tanya said as we came to a red light in the town of Forks.

Slumping back in my seat and shaking my head at my two sisters, I pressed play on my iPod, drowning out their bickering. They were both boy crazy, and I knew that starting tomorrow; I'd be taking my bike. Or at least, trying to convince Tanya to let me.

A few minutes later, we were pulling in to the student parking lot. Tanya parked a few spaces away from the Volvo, but I didn't know why; we had basically just followed them the entire way to school. The rain had stopped on our way over here, but Tanya and Kate decided to keep their umbrellas with them, just in case, as they stepped out of the car. I followed, internally groaning when I realized we weren't heading to class, and instead standing there. I didn't even have to look up to know the Cullens were approaching; that _had_ to be the reason for just standing there.

Leaning back against the mustang while setting my books on the back trunk, I crossed my arms and looked to the subject of my sisters' desperation and creepiness. Edward, in jeans and a green sweater, had a crooked smile as he shot a wave towards us as they approached. Tanya gave a small wave back, finally deciding to play it cool. Jasper, also in jeans, and a black button up and a jean coat, offered a tentative smile to Kate who waved. Emmett in a pair of sweats and a jersey, looking like he was heading to a gym, had a huge slightly mocking grin on his face, like he was enjoying some inside joke. Rosalie in another cardigan, red, with a black tank top underneath and black jeans, had that scowl again, but it was less pronounced. Lastly, Alice had a big smile for everyone, dressed in a black skirt with a yellow shirt, and a yellow rain coat, and a yellow headband.

They all stopped a few feet away and there was a moment of silence.

Was it awkward, or was that just me?

"Hello." Tanya broke the silence, smiling at all of them. They all had a wave or a verbal hello as well while Kate chimed a friendly 'Hi'. I just nodded at them, already feeling a few eyes on us from the kids that were here in the parking lot as well. Pretty soon it would be filled up, and that meant even _more_ eyes on us.

"So, _you're_ the ones who live down the road." Kate said after silence fell on us all again. I held back my eye rolling.

"And _you're_ the ones who own that manor." Jasper replied. Rosalie did not hold back her own eye rolling.

Edward piped up after looking at Rosalie with an amused face, and at Jasper's scowl. "It's a beautiful house, Esme was wondering who lived there for the longest time. When we moved down here, I think she wanted to buy it because of how much she liked it, which is unusual because she usually likes designing our homes and having someone build them instead of moving into one."

Tanya beamed. "Well thank you, and tell your mother she can stop by any time to have a peek at the inside. It's just as beautiful, I think. You're _all_ welcome too." Kate nodded furiously.

I furrowed my brows. "Home_s_? Do you move around a lot?"

All the Cullens' eyes shot to me, some of them widening, well, all of them widening, and Rosalie's narrowing, though hers quickly shot to Edward after, in a glare. Edward composed himself, his voice strained. "Yes. Carlisle is a great doctor and offers his service to anyone who needs it, so when a big offer comes around, he takes it and we have to move. There are a lot of little towns that need a doctor like him." He explained.

'_Doesn't that seem a little weird?'_ I asked the other two as I scrutinized his face.

'**Not at all; their father sounds like a great man. Why are you so suspicious of everyone, Bella?'**__Tanya asked, slightly upset that I made them uncomfortable.

'_**You're probably making them feel like this is an interrogation, Bella.'**_Kate reprimanded.

Tanya laughed almost nervously. "And now you've met our straight forward, right to the point sister; Bella."

_'Forgive me if I'm worried about my sisters and a little wary of the guys you literally just met yesterday.'_ I snapped back, scowling.

_**'Please, Bella. We appreciate you looking out for us, but we really like these guys and we don't want to wreck it.'**_ Kate thought, in a softer tone than before.

Sighing, I forced a smile that I was sure was also a little bitter. "My apologies; it wasn't my intention to offend, I was merely curious." I mumbled.

Edward smiled kindly and nodded. "No offence taken." He turned to Kate. "These are _my_ siblings; Emmett, Jasper, Alice, and Rosalie." Tanya smiled and nodded at them, along with Kate.

When Alice caught my eye she smiled a small smile and offered a little wave. I gave her a polite smile back, looking back over the parking lot to see even more students had arrived and were now watching us like they were at some exhibit. "Class is about to start."

Tanya gave me a look but I just shrugged, because it was true and I wasn't just trying to get out of there…Well, that wasn't the _main_ reason I brought it up. "Yeah, we should probably get to class now."

"Sit with us at lunch?" Jasper asked, and I wasn't sure who was more surprised; him or the rest of us. "I mean, do you want to?" He asked, scratching the back of his neck.

Kate nodded enthusiastically. "We'd love to!"

We parted ways then saying our goodbyes, or giving a grunt of a goodbye in my case to Alice who had said my name somewhere in the exchange, before stalking off to class. Kate and Tanya made the hug quick before they left and I knew that I had upset them. I couldn't help it though. Who wouldn't be a little bit…well, like I said; wary? They had _just_ met those guys, and there was something definitely…different about the family. Their eyes, for sure. But Kate and Tanya were both blinded by their crushes. Which meant it was up to me to keep an eye out, to be observant, and protect all the family I had left.

And I suppose, yes, I was a little bit miffed about the fact that both Tanya and Kate were smitten. They really were all I had, and if they started dating these guys and things got serious; I'd be left in the dust. Not intentionally of course; my sisters loved me dearly and wouldn't ever do that. But they'd get caught up in it all, and I would just slip their minds. They wouldn't notice because I wouldn't say anything, and I wouldn't say anything because I want them to be happy, even if it meant that I couldn't be. Just like those damn quotes and cards say. Only, they insinuate that it's romantic love. Not all love is romantic. It could be a friendship love, or a family love, and this was both, so as corny as it sounds; I'd let them go.

With that terrific mood, I made my way to the back of the class for my first period of enduring Michael Newton.

The class was the same as yesterday; trying to listen to the teacher while trying to tune out Mike who kept coming up with different ways to word the sentence 'will you go out with me?' for every time I colourfully turned him down. It didn't help that he traded seats with the kid I had sat with the day before. The next class wasn't too bad; I was good at English, and even if I wasn't, we were just reading right now. I thought I would have been exhausted and falling asleep, assuming that my concoction from this morning was still in my system, but I was fairly wide awake. Though the kids around me all seemed to be nodding off, or groggy at the very least. Psychology was where I had to pay attention more, and actually do some work, along with Spanish so I wouldn't be lost when asked a question in the language, but other than that, my morning was pretty easy and dull.

The lunch bell rang and I sighed to myself, picking up my books. Jessica was waiting for me, chatting away about something or other as she fixed her hair in the small mirror from her purse. After pushing in my chair, I looked up to see her staring at me. "What?" I asked after a moment of strained silence.

Her cheeks turned bright pink as she fumbled about, grabbing her bag and pushing in her chair. "Nothing, come on before all the salads are taken."

My face scrunched up in confusion, but I followed her nonetheless, out into the packed hall of kids yelling to one another, eager for their break in the day. "So, Isabella." Jessica said, leaning in closer to me to be heard over the loud roar of noise.

"Yeah." I grunted, stepping around a flailing boy who tripped over his feet and crashed into the lockers I had just passed. Totally could have been me. I was pretty clumsy. "-Going?" Jessica finished.

I blinked and looked over to her from the boy who was picking himself up off the floor with a wide grin to his friends who were laughing as they patted his back. "Hm?"

Jessica rolled her eyes, grabbing my free arm and pulled my closer to her to shout in my ear. Not cool. I need to hear with those. "There's a Halloween dance in, like, two weeks. Are you going?" She asked, her breath fanning out down the back of my shirt and making me twitch.

Shrugging my shoulders, I held open the door for her, more out of habit than actual manners really, but she didn't need to know that. "Depends on the person forcing me to." Kate I could probably take, talk her into letting me stay home instead by offering to do her homework for the next month. Tanya? There would be no way I could get out of that.

Jessica beamed, opening her mouth to say something else, but I cut her off, noticing the slight wave Emmett gave from the other side of the cafeteria. Might as well not keep them waiting. "I'll have to talk to you later, Jessica. The Cullens invited my sisters and myself to sit with them today."

Jessica's eyes bulged as she looked over there, huffing but not actually working up the guts to glare like I thought she might, before turning to face me. She smiled a disappointed smile and gripped my arm, squeezing before letting go. "Better not keep them waiting then." She mumbled, breaking off to head over to her own table.

I glanced at my arm before threading through the tables to the Cullens'. Everyone around here was so feely. They all had very odd and confusing behaviour.

Emmett offered a broad smile as I sat down, and Rosalie glanced at me before looking away, though I noted there was no scowl anymore. "How has your morning been so far, Isabella?" Emmett asked in an un-shockingly deep voice. I was tempted to tell him to just call me Bella (my full name made me sound old) but we weren't friends, so I kept quiet.

"Fine, thank you for asking. Yours?" I repaid, fiddling with the corner of my book.

"Fantastic." Emmett boomed, nudging Rosalie when she didn't say anything.

She sighed and looked at me. "Boring and repetitive."

The silence was a little uncomfortable and had me shifting in my seat, but Emmett broke it. "Do you happen to like video games?"

What an odd question. "I do."

When I said nothing more, Emmett smiled with amusement. "Well then, if you're ever at our house, I challenge you to a game."

Raising an eyebrow, I sat up straighter in my seat. "Why would I be at your house?"

Emmett paused. "I just figured that with your sisters all-"

"If you're insinuating that my sisters plan on having relationships with your brothers, which is still a toss up at this point because they hardly know each other and really I'm not at liberty to discuss that because I've already upset them today and I don't need them down my throat about telling about their maybe secret crushes, then that would mean I would have to tag along with them to be at your house. I'm not sure about you, but being the fifth wheel doesn't sound very fun or entertaining. And of course, this is all assuming that your brothers return my sisters' affections, and in which case I thank you for letting me know, and my sisters also thank you for letting me know so that they know. You probably just saved us all the hassle of the infamous 'debating on whether or not to make a move in fear of being rejected' stage in their relationships, and therefore a lot of drama and late night prep talks that I would have had to provide for them." I said and took a breath. "Oh, and challenge accepted."

Both Emmett and Rosalie were staring at me; Emmett with a blank expression and Rosalie with a hint of mirth. "What just happened?" Emmett whispered.

I felt Kate's hand on my shoulder and held back a smirk. "Bella, stop playing with Emmett's head. It's not nice." She giggled, sliding into the chair beside me. Jasper chuckled as he took the one next to her, and also Rosalie.

"Just ignore whatever she said, Emmett. It's probably irrelevant and just meant to confuse you." Tanya added, taking the seat on my other side. Edward was beside her, and then Alice beside him, on Emmett's other side. Tanya placed the extra bowl of salad from her tray in front of me, smiling at me. "Caesar okay?"

Nodded, I stabbed my fork into a piece and looked around the table. I had thought it would have been weird…but it wasn't for some reason. It was less strained than sitting with Jessica and her table. Kate was talking with Jasper, laughing every now and then, Emmett, Rosalie, and Alice all speaking to one another, Tanya and Edward sharing looks. I shifted in my seat, shaking my head to try and dispel the dizziness and butterflies, and took a bite of salad, figuring it must have just meant I was hungry.

Halfway through lunch, I felt a pair of eyes on me as I read over my notes from math, trying to remember what little of the lesson I could actually hear over Mike. My brows furrowed as I dogeared the page and closed it, looking up and around the table. Deep honey gold eyes, with brighter specs in them were looking at me and I felt myself relax, realizing it was just Alice. The corner of her mouth curved up in a friendly smile. "Just thought I'd let you know that we're doing a lab today."

Nodding, I attempted to smile back, and it must have worked because her own smile brightened. "Thanks for the heads up." I muttered.

Alice too, nodded at me before turning back to her conversation with Jasper and Kate, and I somehow got sucked into Edward's and Tanya's, though my part was mostly just nodding or humming my agreement. Edward was surprisingly a lot like me; he liked to read, and generally the same books as me, and he did, in fact, compose his own music. When Tanya told him that I did as well, his eyes twinkled like Renee's used to and he insisted on hearing a piece when I came over. Again, they were talking like it was an inevitable fact that I would be over at their house at some point in the future.

It was right before the bell when it happened. I had been expecting it since they invited us to sit with them, and I was not let down. Kate was in the middle of telling Jasper some story about when we were kids, when all of the sudden she switched to a new one that she thought of and started laughing about. "Okay, so there we were up in the attic." My ears twitched and I looked over to her curiously, having faith that she knew what she was saying. Kate waved her hand around and laughed again. "Tanya started reciting an inca-_ow!"_ She hissed as my elbow connected with her ribs. "Bella, what the hell?"

Tanya's eyes were wide as she gave Kate a look who raised an eyebrow before realization dawned on her and her mouth fell open. The Cullens looked at us curiously. "Is everything alright?" Jasper asked with that hint of a southern drawl.

Kate cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah. Everything's fine. I just, um, forgot the rest of the story is all."

The Cullens obviously didn't buy it, but they let it go all the same, before the bell rang and everyone started getting up. "Tanya and I have Bio now, so I'll see you guys after school. Isabella, it was nice meeting and speaking with you." Edward said, smiling a crooked smile. Again, I twitched at the full name, but still nodded back at him, doing the same when Jasper said his goodbye and left with Rosalie, then both Emmett and Kate walked off talking about some show they both watched the previous night.

Alice gestured to the doors of the cafeteria, smiling brightly. I could tell already that she was such an optimist. Which was odd that I found I liked her company, seeing as I was such a pessimist. Everything about her was completely different from me, really, and I wondered if that would fringe on any friendship I might be lucky to form with her. "Shall we?" She asked.

Probably not; she was _such_ an optimist; she wouldn't let that happen.

Shrugging my shoulder, I grunted a yes and we made our way to the chemistry room.

**XxXxXx**

"Well aren't you the little chemist." Alice's tinkling voice sounded behind me. My hair was tied up out of my face, my goggles down over my eyes, and a white lab coat opened up, with white latex gloves. I had to admit it; I really _did_ feel like I should be in a laboratory or something. I was _so_ getting Tanya to pick up a another lab coat like this the next time she went shopping, which would probably be the upcoming weekend.

"I could have sworn _you_ were the little one." I replied, turning to look at Alice who was wearing the same thing, though her goggles were the school's, and clear regular goggles unlike my welding ones which were far better looking, I found.

Alice stuck her tongue out at me, hopping up onto the stool in front of our table and station set up. There was a case of clear vials filled with different chemicals, and we were supposed to mix them with this or that and record the results. Child's play, really.

Alice glanced at the paper before looking to the vials. "The first one is mixing sodium carbonate with water. That should be easy, right?" She asked, looking over to me.

Huh? I gave her a quizzical look, wondering why she would be asking that question if she was in AP Chemistry. "You don't know that?"

She shook her head, frowning slightly. "In all my years, I've always took Biology because it fascinated me the most, and became routine. I've never took Chemistry before." She answered. I was even more confused. In all my years? So like, two? Couldn't you only take chemistry and bio and physics in high school?

Shaking my head, I focused. "Then why are you in AP Chemistry?"

Alice smiled again. "I over achieved in Biology and was put into an AP class, so I thought it would be the same here. I'm an excellent student." She chimed.

I wasn't surprised. "Okay, well, yeah it is easy. See that test tube? Fill it about a third of the way with water from the sink for me, please." Alice nodded and quickly did as I asked, holding it out to me. "Hold it still." I murmured, tipping the vial of sodium carbonate into the test tube. "Now stir it with that glass stick until it's all mixed together nice and then set it back in the case to sit."

Alice did, and we moved onto the next one, Alice double checking whatever she didn't know. After a while, she struck up another conversation. "So, Isabella." My mind flashed to Jessica in the hall and I wondered if Alice was going to ask the same question. "What's your favourite colour?" She asked.

Furrowing my brows as I stirred the test tube in my hands while watching to make sure Alice continued the slow stirring of hers, I answered. "Um. Purple. Why?"

"I didn't know, so I thought I'd ask for future reference." She answered, setting the test tube back in the case again.

"Why?"

Alice gave me a queer look. "Because we're friends, or at least; going to be."

"Oh."

Alice giggled. "You're new at the whole friendship thing, aren't you?"

"Yes." I murmured.

Alice patted my shoulder, reaching past me to grab the magnesium ribbon. "That's okay, I'll teach you." She smiled.

She dropped a piece of the ribbon into one of the test tubes from before and held it up to look closely. Her hand shot out and the tube shot into the sink, shattering into pieces as Alice jumped backwards, catching everyone's attention as they all froze to look over. Alice peeked around me and I looked down to see that she had hid behind me, and that one of my arms was raised to shield her. Talk about awesome reaction time, eh? "W-W-What's wrong?" I asked, looking at the sink intently and trying to calm my frantic heartbeat. Awesome reaction time or not, that scared the crap out of me.

"It was smoking. I thought there was fire." Alice said, sounding a little shaken. She must have been afraid of fire. "How did I not see this?" I heard her mutter to herself.

I shook my head, lowering my arm as Alice stepped around me to look into the sink. "It was j-just a r-r-reaction."

Alice looked over to me, alarmed. "Are you okay, Bella?"

A nod. "I-I-I-" I wasn't sure if it was the stutter, or the fact that I didn't mind her calling me Bella that kept me from telling her not to.

"Stutter?" She asked and I nodded again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She turned to the rest of the class sheepishly. "Sorry."

A few of the kids laughed while the teacher grumbled, and the rest got back to work. "It's fine." I said, taking another deep breath. "This was your first lab; you did p-pretty good despite the little freak out." I smirked.

Alice tried not to smile as she lightly nudged me with her hip. "Don't make fun of me."

"Innocent fun, Alice." Alice just shook her head and laughed quietly to herself, getting back to the work.

The rest of the class was spent with small talk and mostly just doing work, trying to catch up now that we were behind because of the little incident, and Alice waved again before leaving for her next class.

Gym. Great.

**XxXxXxXxXx**

"Stupid gym class, stupid boy, stupid filthy minded boy…" I growled under my breath as I stomped across the parking lot towards the mustang that Kate and Tanya were standing outside of, talking with a group of kids. I shuffled my way through the group and to the door of the car, ignoring the few hellos people offered, and got in, slamming the door shut behind me. "Gonna rip his eyes out…"

A few minutes later, Tanya and Kate got in the car. "Do I want to know?" Kate asked, smirking.

I fumed more. "That boy is perverted. Disgusting! Vile!"

"Who?" Tanya laughed as she pulled out of the parking lot.

"Newton! Who else!" I growled.

The two laughed more as I glared at them. "What did he do now?"

"He was staring at me all through gym class with a revolting look on his face!" I seethed.

_"What?"_ Tanya's head whipped around as she slammed on her breaks at the red light. I would have smiled if I weren't as angry as she was. "He _what_?" She asked again, looking at me in the rearview mirror.

"You heard me." I shot back.

Tanya's grip on the steering wheel tightened as we flew off down the roads on a green light. "I'll kill him. How _dare_ he look at my little sister like that in _gym_." She snarled. Over protective older sister comes out to say hello. Her eyes shot back to mine. "You didn't do any stretches with the rest of the class, did you?"

I shook my head and she looked a little relieved. "Not with that creep's eyes on me. Hell no. I just sat there till we started playing basketball."

"I'll still kill him…" She muttered.

And I would gladly hold him still while she did it.

**XxXxXx**

**I don't know what it is, but the end of all these chapters just don't feel right. I must be off my game or something.**

**Oh well, I hope you still enjoyed it.**

**Review pleeeease. ^^**

**-Paige.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

One week. It had been one school week, one weekend, and three days. That's how long my sisters and I had been in Forks for. The weather was repetitive and predictable; dull, wet, grey. But that was okay, because it was starting to really grow on me. I was never one for shorts and T shirts, so I wouldn't really stick out here while constantly wearing pants and long sleeves, since anything but that, and you would freeze. Well, not _freeze_, per say, but you'd definitely be uncomfortably cold, and no one likes that. The kids at school? They were…different from what I had first expected. I figured this for a small hick town where…that was basically it; I couldn't be bothered to even finish the stereotype I was so upset about moving here. I was wrong though. There were no hicks, as far as I could tell, and the people here were genuinely nice. Most people, at least. There were a few people who I could happily go all day without encountering.

…Lauren and Mike…

But the others were pretty decent. Eric was a curious guy, and he seemed to be interested in the whole steam punk thing, so that gave us something to about in English, though he still jokingly compared my conversational skills to a wall. He was actually kind of funny – not like I'd ever let him know that though. I enjoyed Angela's company as well; she was perfectly okay to just sit and be. There was no need to fill the comfortable silences with her. She never tried to force a conversation, and she was a really nice person. Tyler was okay. He liked sports a lot, and planning parties, and kept trying to get me to agree to host a party at the manor even though I shot him down every time, but he was nice enough. No one wanted to risk being my partner in gym because the chances of getting injured were greater than the chances of not, but Tyler didn't mind and always offered to be paired off with me, even after the Great Frisbee Incident. Jessica was odd. She was the only one I didn't get. She _seemed_ like a nice person, and she was, even if she had a tendency to accidentally spill people's secrets, or spread stuff she's heard just because she can't help but talk constantly. She would save me a seat in Spanish, would walk with me to and from the cafeteria on the days I didn't sit with my sisters and the Cullens; constantly clinging to my arm(like I said; everyone's so touchy feely). But whenever the Cullens were mentioned, or I told her I'd be sitting with them; she changed. She got all dark and hateful towards them. Sending them scowls and glares. It was odd; she was so nice to me (the bitter, brooding, surly Bella), yet she was completely rude to the Cullens, especially Alice (the cheerful, bubbly, nice Alice).

Tanya and Kate had settled in nice; both of them were out most nights of the week. Sometimes with Eric and Jessica and Lauren and the others, sometimes with others, and once with the Cullens. Those two had gone over to their house, passing along the invitation to me, but I came up with some sort of excuse that was apparently believable since they didn't push it too much. As far as I could tell, Tanya and Edward, nor Jasper and Kate were items yet, but it was hard to say because just the thought of having that kind of conversation with them made me twitch.

Sleep was becoming rare again. I wasn't sure what it was this time, because nothing was working. It was different though. I wasn't tired. I had all this energy built up in me twenty four hours a day. I wasn't tired, so I couldn't sleep, but since I couldn't sleep, I was irritable. Very, _very_ irritable, which amused Emmett to no end, calling me an irritable grizzly. That earned him some looks from his siblings, so I assumed it was an inside joke or something. Not a very funny one, if you ask me, but that was just because I didn't get it. What made the whole no sleep thing worse, though, was the fact that both Tanya and Kate had been exhausted lately, and were sleeping all the time. They'd have naps when they got home, and would be sawing logs all night; it was even becoming a task to wake them up in the mornings. I knew they didn't like it and would be complaining like mad, if it weren't for the fact that _that_ was exactly what _I_ wanted. What I needed.

The cool night air sent a shiver down my spine as I stood on the balcony outside my bedroom. It was a cloudless night, though I knew it wouldn't last for much longer, but it was nice to enjoy the stars and moon while I could. Goosebumps rose on my bare arms; it was late and I _had_ been trying to sleep, so I was in my pyjamas; sweats and a T shirt and my glasses(how I loathed them. They should make a permanent set of contacts that you could wear to bed). Everything around the manor was calm and quiet, even the woods which I had first thought would be loud and crawling with wildlife when we first moved down here. Not so. Sometimes though, when it was silent out, where you could hear a pin drop from the other side of the house, I could make out noises from the woods. Something big. Really, something_s_ that were big. Big enough to snap branches, big enough to make noise when they ran. And ran they did. Really, really fast. Almost too fast for me to hear; I'd probably miss it if I weren't listening for movement. But it wasn't always, so I forgot about it. It wasn't like I was to go wandering off into the forest anytime soon, nor were the other two.

A scream shattered the silence and I jumped out of my skin, nearly screaming myself. I froze, listening and winced when there was another blood curling scream that tore through the manner. Another one followed right after that and kicked me into gear. I ran through my room and out into the hall, listening to the constant screaming and deduced that it came from Tanya's room that was up another floor. I quickly scrambled up the steps, hearing Kate on the staircase below mine, and raced to Tanya's room.

She was in bed still. The covers were pulled up under her chin, clutched in her fists so tight that her skin was turning white from it. Her eyes were screwed shut, and her face was even more pale than normal as she continued to scream. Her throat would be raw in the morning, that was for sure. "Tanya!" I yelled, jumping onto her bed and grabbed her shoulders. She continued to scream, her body trembling, her shoulders shaking as tears streamed down her face. I shook her shoulders roughly, trying to snap her out of it as Kate ran into the room. "Tanya! Wake up!"

"What's going on?" Kate yelled over the screaming, running to the bedside. "What's _wrong_?"

"I don't know!" I shook her again. "Tanya! Wake up! Wake _up_!"

Her next scream got strangled in her throat as she tried to speak over it. "B…Bella?"

"That's right. Wake up." I murmured.

"Kate!" She cried and Kate grabbed her hand.

"Right here."

Tanya opened her red rimmed, watery blue and green eyes, looking at us like she hadn't seen us in years. "You're…you're okay?" She rasped out.

We looked at each other before looking at her and nodded. "Why wouldn't we be?" Kate asked.

Tanya took a deep breath, sitting up against her headboard. She ran a hand through her hair and wiped her face. "I saw…you both…I…" She shook her head, studying both our faces before she pulled us both into a hug. "You were…you both were gone. You were dead. Some…someone had killed you." She whispered, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.

I glanced over at Kate whose eyes were wide. "It was just a dream." I reassured her.

Tanya furiously shook her head. "No. I was awake. I _know_ I was. I was just about to go downstairs and check on you; I could hear you on your balcony; you were thinking about those noises you sometimes hear in the woods." I froze. She was awake. Or maybe she just heard me in her sleep… "No. We can't do that, remember? Dreams are so hard to control, anything you try to do would wake you up if you tried to consciously do something."

Kate bit her lip. "What _was_ that then? If you were awake, it couldn't have been a dream."

Something in my head clicked. "Hold on. I've read about this. It's in Duchess, I know for sure it's in there. I'll go have a peek, you guys get some sleep."

Tanya shook her head going to throw back her covers. "Bella, you need some rest too. I don't think I could sleep now anyways-"

I cut her off, already getting up and walking to the door. "I can't sleep at all. Kate will stay and sleep up here with you, and I'll go check it out. If anything like that happens again, just uh…well, scream."

Kate snorted, though it wasn't a humorous one as she climbed under the covers. I closed the door and leant against it, frowning. If it was in Duchess, that meant it was magic; a spell, potion, whatever, which _also_ meant that someone had to do it. Someone had to purposefully target Tanya, and do that to her. And _that_ meant that we weren't the only magical beings around Forks. Someone who lived here, or someone who followed us, was trying to hurt us.

**XxXxXx**

"It was a Terror." I said quietly, leaning against the doorway of Tanya's bathroom as she got ready. She was still shaken about it; she was quieter today, far less smiles, and she would randomly search out me or Kate to make sure we were okay.

Tanya looked over her shoulder at me as she combed her hair. "I already told you; I wasn't sleeping." She said, turning back to the mirror.

Huffing, I explained. "Yes, I know. Not a _Night Terror_ or nightmare. A Terror. It's a spell." Tanya's eyes met mine in the mirror. "They're like dreams, except not. They're scenarios someone plants in your head that grow into your worst fear. The only way to break the spell is to realize that it's not reality that you're in; that what you're seeing and living isn't real. It's apparently really hard to do though, because it's unlike any dream; you can think clearly and consciously effect it." Tanya gulped, nodding slowly as she continued to get ready, going over everything in her head. "A Witch's gift doesn't work in them because of the fright or state of terror you're in, though I guess that means if you got over it, then they would work."

"Doesn't matter anyways." Tanya murmured. She was a little bit sour about us not having any gifts. Or, at least not yet. Kate brought up the fact that sometimes it takes a while for a Witch to grow into their gift; but Tanya never bought that.

I shrugged. "The purpose of a Terror is to leave a Witch defenceless, and sometimes to even kill them."

Tanya raised an eyebrow as she looked herself over once more. "What; scare them to death?"

"Actually, yes. But also, because your mind makes it real, and this _is_ magic; if you're hurt during a Terror, then your body suffers the injury in reality." I replied, following her down the stairs to the kitchen where Kate was waiting.

"Which also means that if you die in a Terror…" Tanya murmured.

I sighed. "You die in real life."

Kate frowned as we walked into the kitchen, putting her bowl into the sink. "What does that mean for us then?"

"A few things." Tanya answered, gathering her books together and glancing at the clock on the wall. "The first? I want you two checking in with me in between every class all day, and outside of school, neither of you will be out of my sight. Secondly, we need to try and figure out if we've pissed off any other covenants recently."

"Or Warlocks." I interjected.

"And lastly? Be prepared. Be safe." Tanya finished.

"Wait. So, you overcame your fear, right?" Kate asked.

Raising my clasped hands up under my chin as I batted my eyelashes at Tanya and gave her a bright corny smile. "Did I mention how sweet I think it is that your worst fear is Kate and I being brutally bludgeoned to death?"

Tanya narrowed her eyes at me, pointing. "You're not funny."

"Maybe you just don't understand my humour."

Tanya carried on, holding back her smirk. "Yes, I did. When I heard Bella and you, it was pretty obvious that you two were still alive, and that wasn't really happening."

Kate nodded. "So what does that mean then? If someone tries to send you a Terror again…what happens? You've already got over your greatest fear. You'd know it wasn't real before it really started."

Tanya was quiet for a moment. "And whoever did this probably came to the same conclusion, which means I'm no longer a target." She looked at us, that fierce protective older sister side showing. "You guys are. We'll be ready this time. We'll know how to deal with it, and we'll stop it right off the hop. Alright." Tanya clapped her hands together as we filed out of the house and into her mustang. "They don't have the element of surprise anymore. Be ready for it, people."

Weren't you only allowed you use 'people' when talking to three or more people? Wasn't two just always 'guys' or 'you two'?

Kate nodded seriously. "Spiders." She had always been terrified of spiders her entire life. I mean, Tanya and I myself weren't _not_ scared out of our wits by them either, but Kate was worse. No matter what the size of the spider; she'd freeze up completely, sometimes even stop breathing.

"A life where everyone was from Jersey Shore and had those ridiculous accents." I announced, leaning back against the seat and pressing play on my iPod. It didn't drown out Tanya getting all moody about me not taking this seriously, and how if I was next, I'd regret not telling them, and stuff.

Jessica and the rest of the little group from lunch were waiting by our usual parking space right next to the Cullen's volvo, and I twitched. Tanya groaned and Kate sighed; it was no secret that they had _something_ against her. That didn't really make sense though, since she was nothing but nice to them. I think it was just because the Cullens also had something against Jessica lately, and my sisters tended to be sheep sometimes and go with what everyone else thought or did. For the Cullens though, it was understandable. Jessica had been sending them glares and snide comments and remarks all week. Especially to Alice who sometimes looked like she wanted to march across the cafeteria and rip off Jessica's head. It was all very confusing. But I hear that's what high school was supposed to be like. Confusing; and not just the homework.

I climbed out of the car, holding up the umbrella for Kate as she huddled underneath it while we walked around the car to the Cullens and the lunch group. It's what I called them since I didn't always feel like naming them off when talking about them to Tanya or Kate. I paused to roll my foot around in my shoe, trying to mold it in more. They were new combat boots, so I had to wear them in a little. Today was a little watered down on the steampunk; combat boots, black suit pants, a midnight blue blouse with the sleeves rolled up to my elbows, black suspenders, black vintage goggles with blue lens hanging around my neck, fingerless gloves, a wrist gadget, and criss crossing belts hanging around my waist.

"Good morning, Bella." A high soprano voice chimed once Kate and I were around the car.

Jessica's glare shot to Alice before she smiled brightly at me. "Morning, Isabella. How was your night?"

Kate and I looked to Tanya who froze, which caught the Cullens attention before she smiled awkwardly and shrugged it off. "Fine, thank you. And yours?" I asked, though I wasn't paying attention, I was listening to Tanya's thoughts to make sure she was okay. Nothing major, just repeating the conversation we had about being prepared.

Kate moved over to Jasper's umbrella, smiling warmly at him, which he returned. Honestly, neither of them had made a move yet, who knows why, but you could see the love pouring off that boy from miles away. And I was fairly certain Kate felt the same way. "-finally let me sleep." Jessica said, laughing at the end with Lauren.

I looked over to her, biting my lip. "Erm, what? I'm sorry, I was distracted."

There was a tinkling laugh and both Jessica and I looked over to see Alice hiding her giggles behind a small, delicate pale hand as she looked away into the woods. Jessica's annoyance and anger rolled off her in waves, though I don't understand how she could be mad while listening to that. Alice had an amazing laugh that brought a smile to my face whenever I heard it, and the accompanying smile lit up the room. I don't know how Jessica could miss it. "How was your evening, Bella?" Alice liked to take advantage of the fact that she could use my shortened name and no one else but Tanya or Kate could. At first it was because it was too late to correct her, but now that we were friends, I didn't really mind; not that I did before either which was weird because I usually hated it when people I didn't really know used it.

Shrugging, I took in her appearance. Alice never seemed to wear the same thing twice. Ever. Today was no different. Black high heel boots, blue jeans, a white T shirt, and a black vest. Simple, but fancy at the same time. Or, at least, she made it look fancy. "It was fine." I murmured, looking up at nudge I got from Angela who had a knowing smile. What…? Jessica was scowling, while Emmett had a grin, Edward and Jasper had happy smiles, and Tanya and Kate looked shocked out of their minds. Alice had her head ducked, looking away. Seriously, what? "H-how was y-y-yours?" I asked, nervously. All the staring and smiles were starting to make me nervous. Had I done something stupid? Probably; I had a habit of doing stupid stuff without even realizing it.

Alice looked up at me with bright gold eyes and I mentally frowned. I could have sworn on friday they were darker. More of an amber. Probably just the lighting. "Mine was great, thanks for asking. We went for a family camping trip. Actually, I found this great little clearing on the cliff side, I could show you sometime if you're not b-"

A warm hand grabbed mine and my elbow, dragging me off towards the building. "Sorry, we've got to go; class is about to start and stuff." Jessica called over her shoulder, tossing Lauren and Angela a look that clearly said 'get over here'. I raised an eyebrow, looking back at Tanya and Kate who were glaring.

_'You guys wanna tell me what the hell I'm missing here? Is everyone crazy around here or something?'_ I shot at them.

_**'Sorry, Bella. It's not our place to say. You'll figure it out soon though.'**_ Kate replied as I was dragged into class.

**'Hopefully.'**__I heard Tanya mutter before they were too far away to hear.

I really hated being confused like this.

**XxXxXx**

"Endothermic." Alice chimed, writing it down on the piece of paper. I nodded and jotted it down as well, looking to the next formula. Exothermic. Alice looked at it, cocking her head to the side and bit her lip. "Exo?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

Nodding, I quickly scribbled it down. There was something I wanted to talk to her about, but it was uncharted territory, so for the past half an hour, I had been building up the will to just do it. Shifting in my seat, I cleared my throat, catching her attention. She looked at me expectantly and I shifted again. "Um, so at lunch…" I trailed off, frowning. "I couldn't help but notice that Edward had his hand on T-Tanya's th-th-thigh." I cleared my throat again, trying to plow through my stutter. Alice's mouth was slowly curling into an amused smile. I scowled. "Are they a, you know…an, uh..."

"Item?" Alice supplied.

Blushing furiously and shifting again in my seat, not failing to notice Alice's smile widen even more, I nodded. "Yes."

Alice put on an innocent face. "Item? I'm not sure I know what you mean, Bella."

She was going to make me say it even with my damn stutter. Evil little pixie. Loved watching me squirm. Making an uncomfortable face and gesturing with my hand, I elaborated, knowing she wouldn't tell me unless I did. "Are they together? In a r-relationship?"

Alice giggled. "Of course they are, silly. Isn't it obvious?"

I looked away, shrugging. "I don't know. I'm inexperienced in that department. I don't know how to read those signs, or any signs, or any_thing_ really."

Alice donned a thoughtful look. "That explains a lot."

"What?"

"Nothing." Alice replied quickly and I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously. She just flashed me a smile in return."So, you've never been in a relationship before?" She asked.

"Nope." I wrote down the next three answers on the paper.

Alice did as well, her flowing script making me self conscious of my chicken scratches. "Really?"

"You find that hard to believe?" I asked. I didn't think it would be surprising at all. "You do know who you're talking to here, right?"

Alice waved that off. "You criticize yourself too much, Bella. Most people would die to be with you." I snorted. "Really, it's true. And even if it weren't, you at least have _one_ person who will always find you perfect."

Rolling my eyes, I swivelled to face her. "Please, don't tell me you're going to get into that perfect other half crap."

Alice furrowed her brows. "You don't believe in that?"

Gesturing to myself, I explained. "Again, look at me; how could _I_ be someone's better half."

Alice stuck her tongue out playfully. "Maybe you're their worse half."

I clutched my chest, smirking. "Ouch."

Alice giggled again. "Seriously though, even so; you're still their other half. You complete them."

"Going by that reasoning," I said. "That would mean that someone who completed me would have to be all cheerful and happy and bright and nice. Can you really imagine someone like that falling for me?"

Alice shrugged, looking down at the desk. "Ever hear of opposites attracting?"

"Yeah, maybe in fairy tales. This is real life, Alice." I scoffed. Alice didn't respond, just looked down at her paper with a slight frown. Worried that I had upset her or offended her, I backtracked. "I-I mean, it _could_ happen, I guess. I'm sure there's someone out there perfect for _you_. And who knows, maybe Tanya and Kate are perfect for your brothers and vice versa."

Alice gave me a look. "Yet you still don't believe there is someone out there for you?" I shook my head. "How? How can that be, Bella? Why does everyone else get a soul mate but you?"

"I don't deserve one." I blurted out before I could stop myself. Alice's eyes widened before a concerned look came to her face. "I-I-I mean, uh, that's n-not…"

"Bella, how could you even think that? No one deserves to be alone their entire life, without their mate. _No one._" Alice said, reaching out to grasp my hand that was on the desk.

It slid down into my lap before she could though as I angled away from her. "I d-didn't mean to say that."

"Bella-" Alice started.

"_No._" I sighed. "Can we please just drop it?" This was the reason I didn't like talking with people, and interacting. You go and say things before you remember to filter them.

"Alright." Alice said quietly after a few moments of silence. I slunk farther into myself, propping my elbow onto the counter and hid behind a curtain of hair. Alice clapped her hands together, like a switch was flipped, and her bubbly nature came back out. "How about we talk about later tonight! And the fact that you're finally coming over to our house!"

That caught my attention. My head shot up so fast I was lucky I didn't get whiplash. "What?"

Alice grinned, nodding. "That's right. Tanya and Kate and you are coming over tonight. You've got no excuse this time; I already asked those two if you had any projects or anything for your classes."

"Uhh." I sorted through my brain, trying to think of _something_. "I…can't." Alice frowned. "I've got…Chemistry homework." I said, pointing to the board and the chapter review pages that were written up there.

Alice smiled brightly again, nearly bouncing in her seat. "Bring it over! We can work on it together!" She sang. I sighed in defeat, knowing there was no way I would be talking my way out of this with Alice.

"Fine." I grumbled.

**XxXxXx**

Tanya and Kate's smiles fell from their faces as they saw me marching towards them. They muttered something to both Jasper and Edward, making the other two laugh as they left after a small wave to me. I only nodded at them, keeping my glare levelled on my two sisters who started backing up to the car. _'Thanks for the heads up, guys.'_ I spat at them through our link.

"Hold on, Bella." Kate tried to calm me down, holding up her hands. "We just didn't want you to ditch again."

"Oh, I see. You're totally forgiven now." I snarled, sarcasm dripping from the words.

"Come on now, Bella. You can't be a hermit all your life; you have to get out there some. See the world and all the people it has to offer. Besides, you wouldn't want to seem rude, would you?" Tanya asked. I faltered at the car, raising an eyebrow. "Turning down their invitation on poor excuses _twice_ in a row?" She said. I glared at her and she smiled brightly, both of us knowing she had won.

"We're following them back to their house." Kate said as we loaded up into Tanya's mustang. I still didn't want to go, but there was no point in arguing anymore. Besides, Alice already thought I was going, along with the rest of their family now. _And_, I didn't exactly say how long I was staying, nor did either of those two. So really, I only had to stay for a decent amount of time before I could leave, and a decent amount of time, for me, is around an hour-ish, _maybe_ two.

The Cullens were speed freaks as well apparently, seeing as Tanya didn't have to even slow down in order to follow them. It actually seemed like she had to speed up, which was starting to freak me out a little because Tanya could have her klutz moments, and she _usually_ drove at lethal speeds. The rain seemed to finally be easing up, though the clouds were still _very_ dark, enough to have to force everyone to drive with their night time lights on. So not only were we speeding with Tanya's clumsy moments, but it was also dark out _and_ we were driving on wet roads… "Would you slow the hell down?" I growled. I pictured a wall, blocking them off so they didn't hear me, because I didn't want to freak them out. We actually should have been playing it a little safer; driving slower, being cautious of more people, etc, now that we knew someone was purposefully messing with us. Or, at least, Tanya.

"Calm down, Bella." Tanya said, glancing at me in the rear view mirror. "This is only a little faster than we usually go."

Nodding, I settled back in my seat. "I know. I'm just… a little car sick." I muttered, looking back out the window. I could feel Kate, or maybe even Tanya, trying to prod my mind and hear what I was really thinking, but I kept them out.

I broke out of my thoughts as we turned down a twisting gravel drive way that lead to a beautiful mansion. Their mother, Esme, must have been a great architect if she designed this place. It was too different from our place to actually compare the two, so it was safe to say that they were both just as well designed as each other, and both exquisitely gorgeous. Their house was white, as oppose to our black and dark colours, and though we had many windows at our place, this one trumped us there; having whole walls made of glass. There was a garden on the side of the house, and smaller ones in the front, that were just as beautiful, and whoever took care of them did a wonderful job. (I once tried to keep a cactus, just a little one, in my room even though Tanya warned against it. It died.)

Edward and Jasper were both at our car as we stepped out, the other three inside already, probably to go inform their mother of guests. Does no one around here get a full day's notice _before_ hand? "So, what do you think, Isabella?" Edward asked, gesturing to the house as he took Tanya's hand in his.

My eyes stayed on their clasped hands, narrowing slightly. "It's different." Tanya was never much of a hand holder, none of us were really, we'd always been taught to be careful and mind full of our hands, because that was how Witches used their powers. Again, pretty pointless for us, according to Tanya, because 'we were never going to get our powers'. She could be a real Negative Nancy sometimes, and that was coming from _me._

Tanya nudged me, frowning slightly. "He means the house, Bella."

"Oh." I looked up at it and shrugged. "Beautiful."

Jasper smiled. "Esme will be glad to hear you think so." His hand was also in Kate's and I twitched.

"How about the inside?" I asked, not wanting to be out there with their hand holding and lovey dovey faces.

Jasper seemed to catch on, obviously the brighter brother of the two, and nodded before leading us inside. "I think you'll like the interior just as much." He commented.

He was right too, just like the exterior; the inside was absolutely beautiful. Esme had to have been famous for her designs, or at least working for a big company. I wondered why I had never heard of her before though, but shrugged it off because it's not like I read architect magazines or anything like that. Did they even make architect magazines? Or would this fall under designer magazines? Decorative ones? I absently bit my lip as I pondered this.

"You must be Bella. Alice has told me so much about you, dear." A warm voice pulled me from my thoughts once more. She was on the shorter side; shorter than myself, but taller than Alice, so around Kate's height, with warm golden eyes that I could have sworn flashed a darker colour for a second. I shook my head to clear it and smiled, surprisingly easily at her, and nodded. She smiled back brightly, revealing pearly whites, though rather sharp looking canines and kind of long. I had always been jealous of people who had those; I had a thing for vampire movies and such. Her hair was a unique shade of brown, kind of chestnut but also kind of caramel, and a heart shaped face.

And since the woman radiated kindness and motherly love, I didn't mind one bit that she called me Bella. It reminded me of when Renee used to call me that. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Cullen." I said, sticking out my hand.

"Call me Esme, please." She said, ignoring my hand and wrapping me in a warm hug. I froze, waiting for the internal alarms and bells to go off screaming to get the intruder out of my personal space. Happens a lot, part of the whole anti-social hermit thing, I guess. But there was none, and again I was reminded of Renee's hugs, so I awkwardly raised an arm up to attempt to return the gesture.

Tanya and Kate snickered behind me at my, well, awkwardness. I shot them a glare over my shoulder as Esme pulled away. "Well, I'm going to go start on supper, I hope you girls like steak." She chimed, smiling once more before leaving for the kitchen.

Shoving my hands into my pockets, I looked back over to Tanya and Kate, praying they wouldn't take off with Edward and Jasper and leave me by myself. I briefly wondered where Alice was; craving her presence that always seemed to calm my nerves. Well that wasn't actually accurate. She just kind of made me feel relaxed while the butterflies in my stomach flew around, comfortable during my dizzy haze. She made me feel that…despite all my nerves and worries and concerns, that everything was fine. That they weren't the most important things. She made them fade into the background. I needed that right then.

Luckily, Emmett popped out of nowhere, grinning his goofy grin at me. "Isabella, you owe me a game!" He boomed, spinning my shoulders in his massive hands in the direction of what I assumed was where we would be playing.

"Go get him, Bella!" Kate cheered, following us with Jasper and Tanya and Edward in tow.

Emmett led me to a huge living room where Rosalie sat on a sofa across the room. She looked up from her magazine, rolled her eyes, and went back to it. Emmett sat me down on the other side of the sofa from her, in front of the enormous television as he set up the game. The others took a seat around the room, talking to one another, sharing smiles. Tanya laughed quietly at something Edward said, lightly slapping his shoulder before resting her head on it. Kate rubbed circles on Jasper's hand as she smiled at him.

I felt my face set in a deep frown as something stirred in me. Grunting, I dismissed it, burying it deeper down, and focused on the blank television. I could feel Rosalie's eyes on me from the other side of the sofa, but didn't turn to look. After a moment, they were back on her magazine once more, and Emmett plopped down in front of her on the floor. Her hand twitched, like she was going to play with his hair or something, before her eyes flickered back up to me, and she settled for turning the page in her magazine instead.

"Prepare to lose, Isabella!" Emmett cackled, starting the game up. Shaking off my mood, I grinned at him and nodded. It was never bright to play video games, especially competitive ones, in a sour mood.

Seven matches later, Emmett was up on his feet, waggling his butt in my face as he danced around in front of the couch. "Aha! Take that, Bella Bear. In your face!" He sang. I suppressed my laugh and smiled softly. He was such a child. "Thought you could beat me? The _master_?" He asked condescendingly. He did a victory lap around the room, punching the air multiple times, and jumped onto the couch, bouncing me. "I _own_ Frozen Bubble!"

Rosalie was pinching her nose and shaking her head as Edward chuckled. I couldn't contain my snicker.

The butterflies in my stomach intensified and I frowned down at my stomach, wondering if I had the flu. Great, now I'd have to run out to the store and pick up some kind of medicine before we headed home. Although, that was an excuse to leave earlier.

But now that I was here…I didn't really want to leave so soon. Emmett was actually really fun, no matter how much of a sore winner her was. I smirked again, picturing his victory dance.

"Oh, Tanya, you forgot your scarf here last time. Esme has it in the hall closet." Edward said, getting to his feet. He held out his hand for Tanya and they both left the living room. Emmett caught my eye and started wiggling his eyebrows while looking to the floor above us. I grimaced and he boomed out a laugh. "Emmett, we're doing nothing of whatever has you laughing so loud." Edward yelled from the stairs.

"_Sure_ ya aren't." Emmett whispered.

Rosalie got to her feet, taking Emmett's elbow. "Enough, Emmett. You're going to scar Bella - Isabella - Which do you prefer?"

I shrugged my shoulders as she looked to me. "Bella's fine." I muttered.

Again, feeling Kate's eyes on me, I turned to look at her and her mildly surprised look. I raised an eyebrow, but she only shook her head and looked to Jasper.

"Either way, we best get you out of here before you embarrass the girl too much." Rosalie said to Emmett who pouted as they left the room.

"Which reminds me." Jasper said, getting up. Seriously? Had they never heard of subtlety? "I told your sister I'd get my hands on one of Edward's compositions for her." Kate giggled as the two left.

"And then there were none." I mumbled quietly to myself, rubbing my forehead in hopes of getting rid of the dizziness. I heaved a sigh and ran my hands through my hair, looking around the room. It really was very nice inside the mansion. Very bright and happy and homey and warm.

A slick, shiny, black piano caught my eye. It was sitting in the corner of the room, and after a minute of battling with myself, I got up and strolled over to it. It was very smooth, I found as I barely grazed my fingers over the keys. I held my breath and took a seat, looking to the living room entrance. A calm melody filled the room, the tempo not too fast but not too slow either as my fingers glided across the porcelain keys.

Closing my eyes, I pictured the piano room back in Phoenix. Pictured Renee sitting on the bench with me and pushing the peddles on the floor that my short four year old legs couldn't reach. Pictured the bright smile she would give me every time I glanced up to make sure I was still playing the right notes, though I knew she wouldn't mention it if I wasn't; she liked 'my own versions of the songs' best.

"That's a beautiful song."

Alice's wind chime voice made me jump and bang on the keys as I shot to my feet. Her arms shot out to catch me as I tripped over the bench and steadied me while I smoothed out imaginary wrangles in my pants, fiddling with the suspenders in an attempt to keep my fingers busy. "S-s-sorry. I was just… I couldn't help myself… I-I-I-"

Alice's chilly small hand covered my mouth. "Deep breathes, Bella. I was just complimenting you and the song is all. There's no need for any apologies." She smiled softly at me.

Nodding my head, I waited for her to removed her hand before taking a deep breath. "It's Hello, by Evanescence." Alice nodded, looking to the piano.

"Would you like to play more?" She asked.

I furiously shook my head. "N-no, I was just…passing time. You know. And, um, homework. We've still got homework to do." I mumbled, looking away as I shoved my hands back into my pockets.

Alice giggled, at what - I couldn't tell you, and nodded before leading me off to the stairs, pausing only to pick up our books from the front door. On the stairs, she looked over at me. "I think I remember your sister mentioning that you composed your own songs?" She asked. I ducked my head and nodded. "You should play something for me some time; I'd love to hear it." I shrugged, mumbling a maybe, and followed her down the hall to the very last door on the left. She opened the door and skipped in, spinning around and beamed at me. "What do you think?"

It was surprisingly dark for her. I would have thought it would be pink or yellow or even light blue. That wasn't the case though. The walls were black with white designs on them, whether they be a banner all around the room, or different sizes of circles, paint splatters…it was all very abstract. Her furniture was either black or white, and seemed to fit it's space perfectly, leaving the room feeling not too crowded, but not too empty or spacious either.

"It's very nice." I commented, looking around the room as I stepped in.

Alice pouted. "Just nice?"

Rolling my eyes, I lightly shoved her shoulder; pushing her onto her bed and sat down at her desk. "Fine. It's amazing. Life changing. Earth shatteringly beautiful. I can barely comprehend it's sheer beauty. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at anything the same way ever again."

Alice stuck her tongue out at me for the second time that day. "You're very good at sarcasm, aren't you?"

Shrugging, my voice was indifferent. "It's me second language."

Alice rolled her eyes and set up her books and everything on the bed in front of her, patting the spot next to her. "Alright, Chemistry whiz, get your smarty pants butt over here and give me the answers."

I gasped, stalking over to her bed. "But if I give you the answers; you'll never learn." I sat down beside her, keeping up the innocent concerned face. "And if you never learn; you'll fail. And if you fail; you'll get a bad reputation. And if you get a bad reputation; people will never look at _you_ the same way. And if they never look-" Alice whacked me with a pillow.

When I sat back up and looked at her, her face was neutral though I could detect a hint of mirth in her eyes. "Are you quite finished?"

"Not at all, but let's get to work anyways."

**XxXxXxXxX**

**So, there you have another chapter. Sorry for how late it was; I've been working on another story.**

**I'm not sure if I'll publish that one though.**

**Would you read an A/B story that was kind of post zombie-apocalyptic but with vampires instead of zombies? It's a little different with some stuff changed up here and there, but I think I like it. I'm not quite sure yet. It has potential in my eyes.**

**Anyways, tell me what you think about that **_**and**_** this chapters.**

**Plus, check out the song Hello by Evanescence. World's greatest band ever. Seriously. Amy Lee rocks my world.**

**-Paige.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

No. No. No. Still no. Nope. Not that one. No.

This was hopeless. I frowned, pushing my glasses farther up my nose and looked down at Duchess. She was real heavy, especially when opened because then you have to try and juggle her with one arm while you look for a stupid book that's not even on any of the shelves of books in the library of the manor. Who wrote this anyways? Does this book actually exist, or were they throwing everyone on a never ending goose chase?

Huffing, I looked back up to the shelves, pushing off the side of one with my foot. The latter with the wheels on the end raced off down the wall until we got to the 'W' section and I grabbed a ledge of shelf to stop us, holding Duchess tight. Scanning the titles, though I knew there was no point; I wouldn't find the book anyways, I heard the door to the library open.

"Bella?" Someone called. Sometimes both Kate and Tanya sounded alike.

"Up here." I grunted back, giving up on my search to look down at Tanya. "What can I do you for?"

Tanya's eyes immediately left mine. "Uh, nothing. I was just wondering where the book was and I assumed you had it since Kate doesn't." She replied hastily.

I raised an eyebrow. "That's all?"

She nodded. Then she stood there awkwardly, looking around the room like she had never been in it before. That could very well be true, actually. I don't recall ever seeing her in there, and it's usually where I was. The girl really needs to read more. Or perhaps I need to read less. Hmm. "So, what are you doing?" She asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

Looking back to the shelves and then to Duchess, I sighed and climbed down the latter, setting the book down on a desk. "Nothing really. I was trying to find a book that would help me combine two spells to create a new one, but I'm fairly certain it doesn't exist."

Tanya looked curious now, her awkwardness long forgotten as she strolled over and picked up Duchess. "Which spells and for what?"

We walked back out of the library and headed for the stairs. We had to be leaving soon for school after skipping the morning because those two wouldn't wake up. I shrugged my shoulders, wiping my glasses on my shirt before putting them back on. "I was thinking of combining the backfiring spell with the summoning one. That way, when whoever is sending us those Terrors sends another, it will backfire along with the summoning spell and bring them to us. Which is how we'd summon them without knowing who it is." I replied, grinning at my masterful plan.

"How do you know it will work that way? What if it's just a spell that backfires the summoning spell so that whoever summons you will be summoned _to_ you instead?" Kate asked, skipping past us and into the kitchen.

And she popped my bubble. Nice. I could literally feel myself deflate. I hadn't even thought of that. "Back to the drawing board then." I muttered, slumping down onto my stool at the island counter.

"I'm just trying to look at it from all the angles, Bella." She replied, looking at me with concern.

I waved it off. "I know. I know."

"Maybe we could get this guy if you didn't try to do things on your own all the time; if you tried asking for help once in a while." Tanya chirped.

Crossing my arms, I looked away from her, tilting my chin up. "I don't _need_ help."

Tanya shook her head. "No, you need the help, you just don't _want_ it. You're always like this, Bella. Like you've got something to prove. Well you really don't! You're just being stubborn and one of these days it's going to get you hurt!" Her voice sounded upset.

My glare made her almost flinch. Almost. She was kind of used to it by now. "I'm doing just fine, thank you very much. Last time I checked, it was _you_ that had a Terror cast on them. _You're_ the one that needs help here!"

"Are you just going to shove people away all your life, Bella? Tell me what it is? Are you afraid of getting close to someone? Of letting people in or something? Or are you just afraid of feeling for people other than yourself!" Tanya snapped. Kate looked between us, not sure who to side with.

Getting to my feet, she was a little taller than me, but not by much. "Trying to play psycho-analyst? Hm? At least I don't throw myself at the first boy I see; what does that say about _you_ then?"

"Guys..." Kate murmured.

Tanya's cheeks were flushed. "It means I wear my heart on my sleeve, I don't lock it up in some cage and throw it in the freezer, Bella." She fumed in a seething voice.

"Now you just sound like a cheesy emo song."I bit back.

Tanya stomped her foot. "That's _it_. I was going to let you just be you, just go on your own, continue to hermit around. Not anymore. This is for your own good – and now my entertainment." She flipped Duchess open, turning a few pages before she grinned triumphantly. I stepped back with wide eyes.

She wouldn't…would she? "Kate!" I shouted, looking to her. She looked over Tanya's shoulder and looked to me, smiling apologetically. "What the hell? We're not supposed to use them on each other. Guys! Seriously!"

Tanya's anger dissipated slightly and her eyes filled with concern. She looked torn, biting her lip. "This really is for your own good, Bella. I won't sit by and watch you endure life - you need to _live_ it." She grabbed a napkin from the island and scribbled something down on it wile Kate grabbed a bowl and a match.

"N-No…" I muttered, backing away from them and into the table.

"Sorry." She whispered, looking down to the book. _"Her love is strong, Her spirit weak, It is an answer that she seeks, The question burns within this fire, So she may hear her heart's desire." _The napkin caught fire from the match like it was doused in gasoline, and Kate let it drop into the bowl, both of them watching the flame burn pink.

Gasping as my heart fluttered, I stumbled to the floor, sitting on the tiles. I stared, unseeing at the space in front of me, flashes blinking rapidly. Noises filled the kitchen sounding like the cafeteria at lunch and then I could see it; all of us sitting around the table, talking and eating lunch with one another. Alice's laughter filled my ears, stirring the butterflies in my stomach, her smile bright and beaming making me dizzy. Every time she patted my arm or brushed up against me it tingled. Every glance my way made my heart stop.

And then it was all gone, with a blink of my eyes, I was back in the kitchen, looking at Tanya and Kate who were crouched in front of me, calling my name with worried faces. "What did you do?" I croaked. I couldn't get her smile out of my head now, nor her laugh or voice. I couldn't get _her_ out of my head. "What did you _do_?" I seethed, pushing myself to my feet, glaring at Tanya.

She took a deep shaky breath, a small smile forming on her lips. "I knew it."

"Knew what?" I spat, still glaring at her.

She shook her head, looking to Kate. "The spell. It's so you hear your heart's desire. It makes it so you can't ignore your feelings, but it doesn't put the feelings there to begin with. That means you liked her. You've been ignoring your feelings for so long I bet you didn't even realize you developed them for her." She chimed, twirling around like _she _was the one who just found out she was in love with someone.

… I mean, in _like _with someone.

I didn't love Alice.

I couldn't.

Sighing and rubbing my forehead, I groaned. "How did this happen with me realizing it?"

"You can be a little oblivious sometimes, Bella." Kate said.

My eyes narrowed at her. "_You_ can be oblivious!" She just rolled her eyes. "There were no signs! I would have seen signs. Wouldn't I have? I just… Ugh, now what do I do?" I asked, knowing they'd help me figure this out. I sure as hell didn't want to, but I bet they were jumping for joy at the thought. Besides, there was nothing to be done now. It was over. No point in arguing it and making it worse than it was. Just gotta keep moving on. What's done is done and there's no changing it now. I've learnt that the hard way and I wasn't about to try and deny it again.

"Now you knock her socks off. You woo her. Dazzle her. Make her fall for you too. I'm so excited!" Tanya exclaimed, grabbing my hand and dragging me up the stairs again with a chuckling Kate behind us. "First - clothes! You've got to catch her eye now. That's the first step."

**XxXx**

"Come on, Bella. Let us see." Tanya called from the others side of the door. I could hear the snickers they tried to cover up. They were officially enjoying this way too much. Of course, if it were reversed, I would be too, but still. That wasn't cool.

Clearing my throat, I fiddled with the rings on my left hand, twisting them around and around. "Uh, pass."

There was a sigh and I knew it was from Kate. She was in a hurry to get to school before lunch so she could see her precious Jasper. That's all she ever talked about, and even more now that I was at their house last night. Jasper said this. Jasper did that. Jasper thinks this is funny. Jasper doesn't like that. Jasper prefers those. And you can't tell her to shove a sock in it, because no one wants to pop their sibling's love bubble, so I had to endure. And this, _this_ is what I get in return? "You can't _pass_. Come out of the closet already, Bella." There was a pause before the two started laughing.

"Har har, you're a real riot, Kate. Soooo funny." I spat. I actually _was_ in a closet; hers to be more specific, because I had to change and this was the only place that had a lock and mirror at the time, that was unoccupied. But then I had to go and take forever, and those two finished in the washrooms and were now here waiting for me to get out.

Tanya sobered up first. "Okay, we're sorry, but come on… that was a little funny. We promise we won't laugh, now let's go. Lunch is in fifteen minutes." She said in her 'telling not asking' voice.

Grudgingly, I took one last look in the mirror before opening the door. I borrowed a pair of boots from Kate who was the same size as me; very high, unfortunately high heeled, and black, along with one of her skirts, also black, not too short that I wouldn't leave the house, but short enough to make me feel uncomfortable. Then my own white blouse, rolling the sleeves up to my elbows, and a black vest over it. I still felt bare, so I threw on a wrist gadget on my right hand and a couple of silver and black rings on my left hand.

Both Kate and Tanya were looking at me with wide eyes and open mouths before Tanya started cooing. "Aww. You look like a girl!"

"Hey!"

"You know what I mean." She waved it off and started circling me. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this day! Little Baby Belle is all mature and growing up!" She nearly squealed.

"Again – _Hey_!" I growled. "Mom told you to stop calling me that on my third birthday." Both of us had seen that if she let it continue, I'd never get rid of the nick name. Evidently, just because she hadn't _verbally_ called me it over the years, didn't meat she hadn't _mentally_.

"Seriously though, Bella." Kate said. "I've never seen you in anything but pants, even at…" She faltered, looking down at her feet. "Um, ever."

A heavy silence fell on us, and I could see it in her eyes; Kate was kicking herself. Tanya cleared her throat, forcing a smile. "You look like you belong in private school. Why are you wearing your glasses?"

Right. "I lost my last pair of contacts, which reminds me; do you think we could stop at a pharmacy after school so I can order more?"

Tanya nodded, hooking her arm through mine and then Kate's as we left the room. "Sure. But if you ask me; I think you should wear your glasses more often. They look very nice with your skin tone and hair."

Great. Now I'd never get the two to stop talking fashion to me. They were just plain old glasses; bold, black, rectangle frames. I smiled at her anyways and nodded. "I'll consider it."

"Ah crap." Kate muttered as Tanya locked the manor's front door. I was huddled under the umbrella with her, waiting for Tanya to unlock the mustang, and looked at her curiously. She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I forgot to do my English homework."

"What's it about?" I asked, climbing into the back seat.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Questions on a chapter of a book I didn't read."

Tanya threw her a disapproving look that she smiled sweetly at and looked back to me. "What book?"

"Catcher in the Rye."

Huffing, I dug around in her enormous purse and found her notebook, stacking it on top of mine on my lap. "I've read it already; I'll do it for you."

"Thank you!" She chimed, this time ignoring Tanya's look.

By the time we pulled into the student parking lot, I was wiping my sweaty palms on the seat and fidgeting nervously with anything I could. "I-I-I don't think I can d-d this, guys." Gah; the stutter! Oh jeeze. Oh boy. "Is it hot in h-h-here?"

The door beside me opened and I jumped, looking up at Tanya with wide eyes. She had a calm face on and used a soothing voice. "Deep breaths, Bella. It's fine, everything is going to be okay. You can do this."

"I-I-I-"

"Slow down." Kate said, patting my shoulder as I stepped out of the car. I clutched the notebooks to my chest rightly, my knuckles going white. "See? Wasn't that easy?" Furiously shaking my head, I looked around the parking lot, my heart pounding away in my stomach, my head getting dizzy and the butterflies in my stomach did back flips. "She looks a little…"

"She's fine, Kate." Tanya said, smiling reassuringly at me. Then she raised an eyebrow, smirking at me. "Actually, maybe she's not." Kate's eyes shot to her in surprise. "Maybe she _can't_ do this. She looks scared-"

"I most certainly am _not_ scared. Don't be ridiculous." I cut her off, glaring.

Kate too, smirked at me. "You _look_ awfully scared there, Bella."

"Well I'm not." I snapped, straightening my shoulders. Preposterous. Me? Scared? Ha. Right.

"So you're not scared of all those people in the cafeteria then?" Tanya asked.

Raising my chin defiantly, I shook my head. "Please. _Me_ scared of _them_? Don't make me laugh; of course I'm not. No one scares me."

"Prove it." Kate tossed at me.

I faltered. "Ah, well you s-see the thing is, by _not_ going in there, I'm proving that I'm a-above all of this, s-s-so-"

"I don't believe you. I think Baby Belle is scared." Tanya muttered, looking over to Kate with a grin.

Huffing, I turned on my heel and started marching towards the cafeteria, hearing the others fall in step with me. The closer I got though, the more I could feel a blush creeping up my neck and to my cheeks. Easy peasy, Bella. You'll do great. Perfect. Just, uh, keep your eyes on the table.

Lamest pep talk in the world. Obviously a motivational speaker was out of the question for career choices for me.

My heart leapt up into my throat as the door to the cafeteria opened. Now I could _really_ feel that blush. I was probably red as a tomato. The thought of looking so red made me go redder and my feet launched forward, taking me to the table in the very back corner where the Cullens sat. Tanya and Kate snickered, following after me quickly.

I hadn't realized I was holding my breath until it all gushed out when I slumped down into a chair, gasping more air in. That was the longest walk I had ever taken. Since when was the cafeteria so large? Had they moved things around in here or something?

The silence around the table was deafening, and I felt like I was suffocating in it. When Emmett's booming voice shattered it, I was extremely grateful. At first. "So, uh… Yeah, I don't know what to do with this." I shifted in my seat, keeping my eyes down on the table because I knew everyone else's were on me.

Edward cleared his throat. "Did you guys have car troubles this morning? I didn't see you in the parking lot, or your car either."

Without looking up, I knew Tanya was flashing him a smile. "No car trouble, just a case of sleeping in. You know how it is." She joked.

There was a hesitant pause that Kate and Tanya seemed to miss. "Uh, yeah. Everyone should sleep in now and then." He replied.

And just like that, everything seemed to be back to normal. The Cullens started talking to one another, along with Kate and Tanya. But I could still feel eyes on me, somewhere from the other side of the room, and other various places around the room, but also at the table. My eyes flickered up to meet a pair of black ones. My own shot back down to the table as I blushed.

Wait. Black eyes? Since when did anyone have black eyes?

When I looked back up, Alice had her face turned away from me as she spoke with Jasper in hushed tones. She giggled before shaking her head and lightly slapping his shoulder. He leaned in to whisper something to her before wiggling his eyebrows in an Emmett fashion at her. She looked embarrassed and a little mortified as she started studying her shoes.

Jealousy coursed through me and I whirled around to Kate. _'Control your boyfriend!'_

Kate glared at me. _**'He's not doing anything!'**_

But I could hear the uncertainty in her tone and saw her eye the two wearily. _'Yet. Who knows what could happen if you don't do something.'_

'**Guys. Seriously, you're giving me a headache. Neither of them are doing anything. Can't people joke around and whisper to one another anymore? Honestly.'** Tanya snapped, scowling at the two of us. **'Green really isn't either of your colours… Not literally, because it really suits you both and Bella you really don't have enough colour in your wardrobe so maybe you should consider-'**

'_Tanya-'_

'_**Enough.'**_

"You'd be singing a different tune if it was Edward." I mumbled and froze when I realized that I had mumbled it out loud and not in my head.

"Pardon me?" Edward asked, looking over from Rosalie and Emmett to me. The others stopped their conversations to look at me and I looked to Kate who looked to Tanya.

"Uhh. What?" I replied.

Edward stared at me for a few moments, like he was trying to look through me, before his brows furrowed in frustration. "I heard my name and something about singing a different tune."

Laughing nervously, I glanced at Tanya and then Kate, and then Edward again. "Th-That wasn't me."

Edward and the rest of the Cullens absently frowned. "Alright."

Conversation was a little awkward after that, though Tanya did take the time to mouth 'I would not' before she turned to him with a smile.

**XxXxXx**

The chances of me passing out from lack of blood to the brain were becoming greater and greater each time my heart fluttered and skipped a beat. I couldn't breathe properly, nor could I speak because of how nervous I was, and really, I was about to march down through the school to find Tanya and kick her ass. Seriously. How long did this spell last? I _knew_ now. It was obvious. I got it. Comprehension has been achieved. Understood. However you want to phrase it; so why was the spell still working?

The teacher began to call names on the attendance sheet and when she got to the 'C's I glanced at Alice. She didn't even look at the teacher as she raised her hand, her eyes trained on my face. Her hair seemed… silkier today, softer, but I was sure nothing was different about it; ink black spiked in perfect chaos. My fingers twitched. Her bright golden eyes were the same as always, only I finally seemed to notice the sparkle in them, the depths of them, how in the gold there was also honey rings. Her lips looked brighter today, maybe she had never worn lipstick before, or maybe today was the first day I noticed, but it made them shiny and juicy looking. I licked my own dry ones, trying to look away. "Are you alright, Bella? You look a little wound up." She put a comforting, delicate and pale hand on my shoulder.

"I'm s-s-super." I chimed, nodding my head frantically.

…Super? Really? There was no way I'd make it through this class without showing her what a fool I was.

"I always thought they were coloured contacts." Alice said, pulling me from my self berating. Her voice sounded like wind chimes, making everything she said have a musical quality.

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

She nodded towards me, looking me straight in the eye. "Your eyes. I could always see the ring of your contacts, so I thought they were coloured contacts not real ones. I'm assuming your sisters' aren't either?"

Shaking my head, I cleared my throat and tried not to stutter. "Nope. Hetero-chromia runs in the, er, family."

Alice smiled, revealing her pearly whites and sharp looking canines. "Well I like them. You should wear glasses more often, the bold frames really bring out the blue and brown." She chimed.

Cleaning said glasses on my shirt, I flashed her a smile. Even all blurred and fuzzy, she was radiant. "Kate used to always say they made me look smart and I thought that was code for nerdy, so I stopped using them in public years ago."

Alice giggled. "You _are_ smart, and they don't make you look nerdy…they make you look sophisticated."

"Isn't that code for old?" I asked, biting my lip. Did she think I looked old? _Did_ I look old?

Alice's golden eyes widened. "I don't know! That's not what I meant though! I never keep up with all the slang and codes of society." Alice paused, smiling at me. "I really didn't mean it like that."

Nodding, I propped my elbow up on the table, relaxing now that she too was as nervous as I was. I absently doodled on the work sheet as I looked at her. "Yeah, I'm not much for slang or anything like that either. I don't like saying things that mean something else. You should just say what you mean, otherwise we're just confusing everyone."

Alice nodded. "I agree." There was a comfortable silence that she hesitantly broke. "So Bella, are you going to the Halloween dance?"

Snorting, I shook my head. "Doubtful; I can hardly walk across the room without stumbling." Noticing Alice's frown, I backtracked. "But I probably will end up going anyways; Kate and Tanya will somehow worm me into going with them and I guess your brothers. So maybe I'll see you there. And Emmett and Rosalie. And if you're not talking to anyone, _I_ could talk to you. And get punch. Or not, you know teenagers, always spiking it." Ho-ly damn. That was crazy hard to stop. I can't believe I even said that. Was it really me? Jeeze, _this_ is why I ignore feelings. They make you look like an idiot!

Alice seemed amused though as she bit her lip to keep from laughing. "It's a date." She giggled. "You better dress up though, or you're going to stick out like a sore thumb and I don't think you want that. The theme that your sisters suggested was fairy tales, so everyone in our group," Huh, I suppose that _was_ their group now. "Is going as a famous fairy tale character."

"Who are you going as?" I asked curiously.

Alice winked. "You'll have to wait and see."

**XxXxXx**

The sun had long since set, and without the sun, Seattle was a very cold place to be, we soon found out. Tanya muttered something to herself and pulled her coat tighter around her as she stepped out of the car. Kate didn't voice her displeasure, but the prominent frown on her face spoke for itself, as she readjusted the bundle of Louis in her coat to keep him warm. Now I, on the other hand, kind of figured it'd be cold, and changed before we left unlike the other two. I had thrown on a pair of pants and a wool coat, with a scarf and gloves before heading out the door, so I was nice and toasty when I got out of the car, with Kiki perched on my shoulder. The other two huddled together while scowling at me as we walked down the dark street.

The building we came to looked like just a regular old library, from both the outside and the inside. The little bell above the door rang as we entered and an old man up by the front at the counter looked up. He offered a friendly smile and winked his grey eye. The other was brown. We made our way past the book shelves and to the back wall in the very corner. There was a space between shelves large enough for a door, but there was none there.

Kate cleared her throat, smirking at Tanya and I who rolled our eyes. "_When you find you way is blocked, all you have to do is knock_." She recited.

At first nothing happened, and then there were faint lines that soon turned into contours of a door that was starting to materialize. After a few seconds, a big oak door was in front of us. Kate turned to us, giving a slight bow. "Get moving, you knuckle head." Tanya said, gesturing to the door.

The other side of the door was _much_ bigger. There were enormous shelves full to the brim with books all throughout the room. There were also tables scattered throughout the room, organized with little things here and there on them. Some of the shelves were full of jars and vials and little boxes, all kinds of unique and odd looking containers. People were walking around, talking to one another, pointing at things, picking up others, petting cats that would be wandering around aimlessly. There were also a few small birds, all different kinds, perched on the tall book shelves, or a light, a desk, table, anything. But birds were more along the lines of rare familiars, so I could only spot a handful, as oppose to the dozen or so cats. Yeah, that's a lot of animals. But again, they were familiars, and not regular animals.

"Alright." Tanya said, rubbing her hands together. "We'll split up, get what we all came here for, and meet back up front in ten or fifteen minutes. Alright?"

Nodding, we all branched off away from one another, Louis poking his head out of Kate's coat now that we were inside. I shook my head, smiling softly at him and his big green eyes before looking to Kiki on my shoulder. "Where to start?"

I decided looking for that book I couldn't find that morning was a good idea. See if anyone had it or if it really was just made up. So, I began walking down the aisles of books, stopping every time a title caught my eye, or a cover looked interesting. There were all kinds of books here; big small, tall, short, old, new, leather bound, paperback, hard cover... _all_ kinds. Despite that though, they too didn't seem to have the book I was looking for.

Giving up my search for the book, for now, I ventured to a stand that held one of the three large, thick books that weren't unlike Duchess and even bigger. They were books of all the basic spells that every Witch or Sorcerer should know, instructions and recipes for potions, lists of all the ingredients you'd need for anything, and stuff like that. I doubt there would be any basic spell that might do what I wanted with my mix of spells to, but you never know and it wouldn't hurt to look.

So I stood there, for a good thirty minutes, flipping the pages and scanning everything. Kiki had flown off and come back two or three times, and even Louis had been by, but I was engrossed in the books and couldn't leave.

Only when my eyes started to droop did I stop reading. But just like that, I wasn't tired anymore. A table flashing in the corner of the room caught my eye though, and I looked over. There were a bunch of amulets and jewelry, a couple of crystals, and they were all flashing or glowing.

"Hey – _Hey!_" A woman hissed at me, putting her hands on her hips as she glared me down. She had a hazel eye and a blue eye, both of which were filled to the brim with frustration and impatience. "Knock it off, would ya?"

I shifted. "Um, excuse me?" What was her problem? I was just reading.

She wildly gestured to the table of flashing and glowing items. "No one wants a used energy ring or _any_ used energy jewelry."

"A what?" I asked, my curiosity peeked. I walked around her, to the table and looked down at it all.

The woman huffed, clearly not wanting to get into a lesson here. "You know, jewelry that's been charmed with endless supplies of energy for Witches like yourself." She explained quickly.

"Witches like myself?" I asked, picking up a silver ring with rubies ringing it.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Witches with an Affinity for Energy. Duh." She looked at me like I was dense.

"What does it mean when they flash?" I asked curiously.

She ran a hand trough her hair. "Didn't your mom teach you _anything_?" She sighed.

"My parents are dead." My voice was colder than the temperature outside.

The woman's eyes widened as she blushed and looked to her feet. She awkwardly scratched the back of her neck. "Oh. Uh, sorry. The, uh, flashing or glowing means you're sucking energy from them right now."

"And how do I stop?" I asked, my anger forgotten and replaced with wonderment. I had an affinity? Tanya was going to be so jealous, but excited. If I had one that was just manifesting, then theirs would be soon too.

The woman's face scrunched up. "Well since you don't know how to stop, I guess you don't know how to start, which means you're probably subconsciously doing it because you're tired. I myself don't have that affinity, but I've read about Witches who do. I think you're supposed to be feeling a sort of tingling feeling." I shrugged. It wasn't so much of a tingling as more of a vibrating. Like little vibrations running through me. "Well try and concentrate on stopping that feeling. Try real hard."

After a minute or two of frowning down at my hands, trying to block out that feeling, the flashing and glowing slowly stopped.

She laughed kind of, looking bewildered. "Ha! I can't believe that worked!"

Looking at her curiously, I raised an eyebrow. "You didn't know if it would? Isn't that how to stop it?"

The woman shrugged. "Hell if I know. That was a lucky guess. I was just trying to get you to stop using these items."

Nice.

Kate and Tanya finally found me, both carrying a small plastic bag "There you are. We've been looking everywhere for you!" Kate chirped, hooking her arm through mine while her other was hooked through Tanya's. "Ooh, those look pretty."

I nodded, looking back down at them. "I'm going to get one." I picked up another silver ring, though this one had a light blue square on it that sparkled when it caught the light.

The woman nodded, taking the ring from me and started to the front. "I'll ring ya up." She smirked. Har, so funny. Everyone was a comedian today.

Man, I was grouchy.

The minute it was paid for, I slipped the ring onto my middle finger on my right hand. It fit perfectly. Even as we walked back out to the real front, where there were still no customers and just the old man, and then into the car, I couldn't stop staring at it. I had an affinity. A real, for really reals affinity.

It wasn't until we got home and settled in the living room in front of the TV that Tanya noticed I was even quieter than usual. "What's on your mind, Bells and Whistles?"

Not even her nick names for me could break me from my thoughts on the ring and the affinity. "Nothing." I mumbled.

Kate flopped back on the couch with me, holding my hand up to look at the ring. "What does it do, anyways?"

Shrugging my shoulder, I looked up at her and Tanya. "Supplies an endless amount of energy to the Witch whose wearing it."

"And what exactly do _you_ need it for?" Tanya asked, now intrigued.

"My affinity."

"… _What?_" They both exclaimed. Tanya continued. "Your – your – your what? Affinity? Like, power? You have one? When? How? Why? Show us!"

"I can't." I replied, frowning.

"Why not?" Kate asked, frowning as well.

With a final shrug of my shoulders, I spoke indifferently, taking care to not let any of my frustration about the subject leak into my voice. "I don't know how."

Tanya bit her lip and got to her feet to start pacing the room. She was deep in thought, murmuring to herself things that didn't make sense, and I was tempted to sneak a peek in her head to see what she was thinking. "What exactly is your… affinity?" She asked.

"Energy." I answered.

"Energy? That's it? Nothing more?" Kate asked curiously. I shook my head. "So you don't know if it's like energy waves or blasts or anything like that?" I shook my head once more. "Well maybe it's all of them, because it's such a broad subject. Have you tried anything?"

"Like what?" I asked.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Have you never read any comic books? Stand up," She commanded. I looked to Tanya who shrugged and then back to Kate as I stood up. "Raise your hand up with the palm facing out." Again, I did as she instructed. "And now… um…push?"

"Push? Really? After all of this, _that's_ all you have? Push?" I asked her skeptically.

She huffed, crossing her arms. "Well I don't know. I don't hear either of you suggesting anything."

"That's because we don't want to sound ridiculous." Tanya said, blowing Kate a kiss when she glared at her.

"Well I'm just suggesting what I've seen before." Kate defended herself.

"Seen from where, X Men?" Tanya snorted.

"No, not X Men… Fantastic Four." Kate muttered.

Tanya buried her face in her palm. But now that I thought about it, I remembered what Kate was talking about. From the second movie, the Silver Surfer could do something like this, or at least something similar. Perhaps if I tried to just… I don't know, compact it all up tight and then let it go like a spring, maybe that would work?

Trying not to think about how ridiculous I'd look; I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my fists, trying to picture balling up all the energy in me. I wasn't sure if it was the ball of energy or just my gut clenching too, but I could definitely feel something. Two gasps filled the room and my eyes shot open excitedly, about to ask if they saw something. But I also let go of what I was doing in my haste, and felt it all shoot out from my body. The force of it had me stumbling back into the couch, wincing as something across the room smashed.

It had to have worked. I had never felt this sluggish and slow and drowsy in my life. The blue jewel in the ring started to light up, like someone was flashing a flashlight from the inside out, and I started to feel rejuvenated. In a matter of moments, I was back in tip top shape, wide awake and alert.

There was a mess on the other side of the room. The TV was trashed, along with the stereo system, and the wall behind the TV was cracked and looked bulged in. I couldn't help the excited grin that took up my face as I turned to the other two.

It was much like this morning, both Tanya and Kate were staring at me with wide eyes. "That was insanely cool!" Kate yelled, jumping onto the couch beside me and grabbed my hand. She lifted it up and pointed it at the wall. "Did it work? What I told you? You just had to push?"

"Um, what you told me _did_ help. Just, not the whole pushing thing." I answered.

"Of course not." Tanya said, excitement in her eyes too. "Did you not see that? The air around you rippled and then all of a sudden the ripple shot out like elastic and into the TV there. I never thought I'd be agreeing with Kate, but that was insanely cool!" She too jumped onto the couch, bouncing us. "I can't _wait_ for mine! What do you think it will be? Will it be like yours? Will it be cooler?" She was squealing away with Kate, talking about what they hoped theirs would be.

I got to my feet, looking back at the two as I started for the stairs. "I'm going to go see if anyone else in the family had this affinity. Maybe they wrote something in Duchess that will be useful."

The other two nodded before turning to each other and started all over, guessing what theirs would be.

**XxXxXxX**

**There you have chapter… five? I think so. Bella finally realizes her feelings **_**and**_** gets her Power all in one day! ^^ **

**Review please! ^-^**

**-Paige.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

"I'm going to go on out on a limb here and say no." I replied, taking the pen that was tucked behind my ear and filled in the equation on my notebook. "We don't share affinities, so yours isn't Energy." I finished, without looking up.

Tanya flopped back down on the grass beside my lawn chair, panting. "I think you're right." She rasped.

We had been out here for a good hour and a half. Kate was out with Angela who had called me looking for a ride into Port Angeles to look for a costume for Halloween which was tomorrow. And since I loathed shopping, and I really didn't feel like standing around watching someone else shop, I bribed Kate into taking her for me by offering to do her homework for the next week, which is what I was doing when Tanya approached me with her 'brilliant epiphany'. Quite brilliant really. Top drawer. Excellent. Fool proof.

"Cut it out; I can hear you." Tanya growled. She sat up, wiping the sweat from her forehead on her T shirt. This was the first time since we were in elementary that I had seen her in a T shirt and sweats. "We've shared everything between the three of us our entire life. Rooms. Clothes. Advice. Detention. (Teachers just didn't understand our creativity, nor did they appreciate how we put it to work.) Magic. Spells. _Everything._ So forgive me if I thought we share this, affinities, too. It was an educated guess."

"Alright, alright; don't get your knickers in a knot." I replied, cleaning my glasses with my shirt. "Listen here; we've been late bloomers for just about everything."

Tanya's eyes narrowed. She didn't like that fact. "And?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I doodled on the edge of the page. "Maybe that's where you should look for the pattern. Not in the fact that we've shared everything. Need I remind you that _I_ was the first to learn how to ride a bike, then Kate, then you? Or that _I_ learned how to play the piano. Again; then Kate, then you? _I_ was the first to hit puberty, then Kate, then you."

"Alright, I get it; you were first. You've always been first, because you're the brain. You're a quick learner." She growled again.

"You can't learn how to hit puberty, Tanya." I snapped. If she wasn't going to listen to me, then I wasn't going to tell her.

"Tell me what?" She grumbled.

Picturing a wall of ice, I watched her frown now that she was cut off from my thoughts. "There's your damn pattern. Me, Kate, you. _Kate_ will be the next to find her affinity, and then _you._"

Tanya's anger and annoyance vanished, instead hope filled her face. "Really?"

Again, I shrugged. "Well according to reason and history, I believe so." Tanya jumped to her feet, mumbling about getting Kate home right away to start trying to find her affinity so she could find her own. Then she somehow got the idea into her head that we needed to go back to the store, or to a Wiccan city, so we could be surrounded by magic and have a better chance of finding affinities, or at least someone to help us find them. I wasn't really sure how that would help, but I wasn't about to burst her bubble. She hadn't been this excited about magic in years, nor had Kate, so I would keep my mouth shut. Those two had always preferred to be normal, trying to fit in with others at school. They'd rather go see a movie with friends instead of taking lessons from Duchess. Would rather bake cookies and pies and cakes and such, then potions and spells. That was always me. I had been the one who was fascinated with magic, and now that they were starting to as well, I couldn't be happier. Okay, I could, but I was pretty damn happy anyways.

But a thought occurred to me. "Hey Tanya."

"Yes?" She asked, twirling around the yard over to my chair.

"Do you think it has anything to do with our blood?" I asked. She looked at me like I was a puzzle. A puzzle she couldn't solve. "I mean the whole affinity and magic. It's always been a little different from what's in Duchess and what other Witches have said over the years. Do you think it's because we've got both Witch _and_ Sorcerer blood in us?"

Tanya faltered. "I…" She bit her lip, sitting down in the chair next to mine. "I'm not sure. Usually I'd say go ask Bella, but for once, you're the one asking the question."

We sat in a comfortable silence for a while, stewing on these new speculations. I didn't need to peak into her head to know what she was thinking about; for the past week, since I got my affinity, there were always only two things on her mind. Edward and affinities. Mostly hers, but also when she tried to think of all the ones she had ever heard of. It wasn't a lot and she had been asking me all week, all the ones I knew. That _was_ a lot.

It was dark out by the time she broke the silence. Kate was still out with Angela, and had probably eaten supper with her, Tanya's stomach had started growling a couple of minutes ago, and I knew mine was about to. "Alright. I'm starving; let's head inside." I nodded and followed her inside, heading to the kitchen to cook something for supper.

**XxXxxXxXxxXxX**

"Wake up, Bella." Kate said, shaking my shoulder.

Groaning and turning on my other side, I waved her away. "Five more minutes."

There was a sigh and I heard her rummage through my drawers. I was too tired to tell her to bugger off and leave me be, so I settled for stuffing my pillow over my face instead. But of course, you can never ignore Kate, especially when she jumps on your bed and giggles. "You don't look like you need five more minutes." She said, pressing something cool against my side where my shirt had ridden up.

And there it was, small vibrations running from my side throughout my body, waking me up and making me fully alert and energized like someone had shot sugar into my system. I flung the pillow from my face, glaring daggers at Kate who jumped up, fumbling with my ring and let it fall into the bed beside me, still shining bright. Growling, I snatched it up, marched to my drawers to grab some clothes, and then headed to the bathroom across the hall from my room. Kate skipped down the hall and to the stairs, calling down to Tanya to let her know I was up and getting ready. Seriously, you'd think now that I knew how to stop sucking energy from them and anything around me, and could actually sleep for once; they'd let me. But no; this was much more amusing for them.

I was still grumbling to myself when I stepped back out of the shower to dry off. Black dress pants, a green blouse, and a black vest for the day, with a wrist gadget, my ring slipped onto the middle finger of my right hand, and a pair of goggles with green lenses. Breakfast was ready when I reached the kitchen and both Tanya and Kate were eating. I spooned eggs onto my plate, grabbed a piece of toast, some bacon, and a glass of apple juice, sitting at the island with the other two. "So Bella, have you decided what you're going to the dance as?" Tanya asked, smirking. Everyone knew I was going now that Alice expected me there, and those two were eating it up.

"Yes." I muttered, glaring down at my plate.

"And…?" Kate asked.

"You'll have to wait and see, just like everyone else." I replied, smirking myself as their faces dropped. Ha.

Kate frowned. "But what if you need help with it?"

"I don't."

Tanya stood up to put her plate in the sink. "How do you know? How familiar are you with fairy tales."

"Very familiar."

"Fine." They both huffed.

Then we were off in Tanya's mustang, racing down the roads to school. Those two made small talk about this and that on the way while I listened to my iPod. Today was one of those odd days where it was still grey out, there was that one giant cloud covering the entire sky as far as the eye could see, but it wasn't as cold as other days, and it wasn't raining. It kind of threw you off, making it look like you should be wearing a coat and using an umbrella, but once you step outside, you realize you don't need either. Very misleading, but not unpleasant.

The student parking lot was full by the time we got there and parked the car and the bell was about to ring, so there was no point in standing around talking to your friends before class. Kate and Tanya both headed in opposite directions, throwing a wave over their shoulders to each other and me. I frowned. Something didn't feet right. I had a bad feeling in my gut for some reason. Jessica tugged on my hand though, and pulled me along to class all the while I frowned, worrying over probably nothing. Everything had been fine lately, other than Tanya getting that Terror. Neither Kate nor myself had gotten one since then, and there hadn't been any other magical mishaps or anything to suggest someone was trying to get to us. If it weren't for the fact that I knew it had to be cast on someone specific; I'd have thought it was just a fluke. An accident.

Class went by in a haze. All of them. English, I sat in the back of class with Erik. We were reading Hamlet, and since I had already read it back in Phoenix, I wasn't too worried about just laying my head in my arms and resting the entire class. Erik took a hint and didn't try to start a whispered conversation like any other day, instead just lightly poking me to ask what a sentence meant if he didn't understand what they were saying. He actually really dug the play and that made me smile a little. It was rare to find someone who enjoyed things like that, while most people would complain about it, calling it boring. Spanish wasn't so easy like English. Jessica wouldn't stop talking. I wasn't even sure what she was saying either. I sat there the whole class, staring at my ring, nodding and muttering nonsensical things every now and then, and she'd just continue on talking a mile a minute. The only time she'd reck my staring-into-space-thinking-nothing sessions, was when she'd grab my hand, or pat my arm, shoulder, or thigh. She was very touchy feely. Even when I scooted my chair away from her, she didn't seem to notice, and would absently scoot hers closer.

Math was a relief, since we had a seating plan. Granted, it was alphabetical, so I still had to sit near her, but at least Cole Sudou put a space between us and acted as a barrier against her feeling hands. But since it was actually math, I had to do work, or the teacher would freak. So, I spent the class going through the problems in the text book that he assigned, nodding to Jessica every now and then, snickering at Cole's pained faces every time she'd squeal in excitement over something.

Lunch couldn't have arrived fast enough. I bolted from the room, juggling all my books and trying not to drop them as I raced down the halls. I could hear Cole's laughter as he exited the room and looked over my shoulder to see him red in the face from laughting as Jessica scowled, stalking down the halls towards Lauren's locker. When I turned back, I had to skid to a stop, and fell back on my butt with my books tossed into the air as I let out a surprised yelp.

Alice quickly started gathering my papers and books from the ground, apologizing like mad. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I thought you knew I was there. I should have moved, I'm so sorry."

Waving it off, I helped gather my stuff. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. I almost s-smushed you. I really should p-p-pay attention to where I'm w-walking. Sorry." I stuttered out.

"Let's just agree to both be sorry and in the wrong here, shall we?" She giggled, standing up and handing me my books. I nodded dumbly and grabbed them from her, tucking them all under one arm and brushed off my butt. It might not be a big student body, but hundreds of kids walk these halls, and who knows where else their shoes have been.

"So what brings you out to in the m-math building?" I asked.

Alice shrugged her shoulders, turning around to the direction I was heading and slipped her cold hand into mine, pulling me along with her. "Thought I'd invite you to sit with us for lunch. Unless Jessica already beat me to the punch."

Shaking my head, I prayed my hand wasn't sweaty. "Nope, she didn't."

Alice's bright golden eyes looked up at me through her lashes. "Great, then you can sit with us?" I nodded. "Fantastic; we've yet to decide when to meet at the gym for the dance tonight. You're still going, right?"

"Yeah." I cleared my throat. "P-People are expecting me and I, uh, already promised you and Emmett each a dance." Alice beamed. "I really hope you both know how to dance, because I don't. Like, at all. Not even a little bit. Not even free style - if there's such a thing. See? I don't even know the technical terms for everything. I probably can't even tap my feet to a beat-"

Alice tugged my hand, turning me to face her as she reached up to place a hand over my mouth, smiling at me. "Calm down, Bella. You ramble a lot when you're nervous, did you know that?"

Nodding again, my mouth started speaking without my permission, not deterred in the slightest by her hand over it still. "Which is really odd because I normally hardly talk at all, I'm actually known for being real quiet, people back in Phoenix used to think I was mute, so whenever I spoke they'd be all shocked and then Tanya would have to explain that I just don't talk a lot, and then people made a game out of trying to get me to talk-" Alice gave me a look with a smirk on her face and I paused. "Sorry; I'm doing it again."

"It's quite alright. I find it very endearing, to be perfectly honest. When you ramble, you're a lot more open, probably because you're not even thinking about what you're saying, so you can't filter anything." She said with a giggle and we started to the cafeteria once more.

Shrugging, I watched my feet as we walked down the sidewalk. "I guess."

Alice grinned. "See? If you were still in that rambling state of mind, I probably would have gotten an explanation, your thoughts on the subject, and a childhood story instead of a plain of 'I guess'." She laughed. A small smile formed on my lips as I watched her skip alongside me towards the back table in the corner where everyone was sitting. "Hey guys." She greeted, sitting down next to Rosalie who looked at our joined hands with a raised eyebrow.

Mine slipped from hers as I sat down and looked over to Tanya and Kate. I didn't want to make her feel awkward now that Rosalie had pointed it out. Kate smiled at me, sliding me a bottle of water and a cup of soup. I glanced at it wearily, leaning down to sniff it, and deemed it okay to eat. "So Bella Boo, you know what you're going as for the dance?" Emmett asked. I nodded and he looked at me for a few seconds. "Well?"

"You'll have to wait just like all the others, Emmett." I replied. Him, Kate, and Tanya all huffed at the same time and he turned to them, shrugging. I knew they put him up to it. "What about you?"

He shook his head, crossing his tree trunk arms across his chest. "Nu uh; I'm not telling you if you don't tell me. It's a two way street there, little missy."

Shrugging, I took a spoonful of soup and grimaced. It was cold. Well, warm. Not hot like I liked.

"This is actually the first year all these other yahoos are dressing up." Emmett commented. I looked at him curiously and he gestured around the table. "Every year, it's just me and Alice that dress up. Sometimes Esme, but not always. Plus it's the first year we're _all_ going to the dance."

"Why?" I asked.

Edward shifted in his seat, looking to Tanya with a smile before looking to me. "What's the point of going to a dance if you've got no one to dance with? Seems pretty pointless to me. No offence, Alice." He glanced at her. "Alice goes every year, she can't resist a party." He laughed with everyone else. Alice huffed.

"You can dance with Bella this year." Tanya chirped. I choked on my soup, grabbing napkins to cough into while I looked at her with wide eyes. Everyone looked around the table at one another, not knowing what to do with what Tanya had just thrown out there. Oh jeeze.

_'What the hell, Tanya!' _I snapped.

**'I was trying to subtly push the thought-'**

_**'Real subtle there, genius.'**_ Kate snickered.

"Unless you get wooed by Mike of course." I laughed nervously. "He's been t-toying with the idea of a-asking you to dance this y-y-year."

That seemed to ease the tension around the table as Emmett boomed out a laugh and Alice rolled her eyes. "Again?" She groaned.

Edward chuckled. "Michael Newton has been trying to make Alice 'his' since we moved down here." He explained to Kate, Tanya, and myself.

My eyes shot across the room to Mike who was popping the collar of his coat, nodding at a few of his buddies. The girls at the table were swooning and I made a face. Really? They actually fell for that kind of guy? Would Alice?

No. She wasn't like the others. She had standards and wasn't pleased at the fact that he was thinking of asking her.

Where does that put me though? If Mike didn't have a chance with her, what made me think that I was any different? If anything, my chances were even slimmer than Mike's.

Sighing, I slumped back in my chair, pushing my soup away and started fiddling with the cap of my water bottle. I wasn't very hungry anymore.

Kate nudged my foot, raising an eyebrow at me when I looked up. I just shook my head and looked down to the cap again, ignoring whoever's eyes were still on me.

**XxxXxxXxxX**

Girls take forever to get ready. Seriously. Sure, they've got a little more to do than most, but what would take me fifteen minutes, had taken my sisters two hours. _Two hours._

Groaning after looking at the clock on the wall once again, I looked back to Duchess. "I can't understand how it's taking them so long, Kiki." I complained. Kiki, who was on the back of the couch I was laying on, cocked his head to the side, blinking his beady black eyes. "It's ridiculous."

This was the third time I had read the page I was looking at. At first I decided to check out what Duchess had on charmed items, thinking about what the woman at the store had said, but now it was just to kill time until Tanya and Kate were ready. Apparently I set the woman at the store back a good deal, and was glad that she hadn't charged for the rings and stuff on the table. Charmed items were expensive because they could only have one user. They become attuned to the Witch or Sorcerer who wears it, knowing when to do what it was charmed to do for that specific person. Using them like I had would mess up the quality of them, and she'd have to get them charmed all over again.

"Are you ready, Bella?" Tanya asked, walking into the room. I lifted myself up on the couch, looking over the back of it while Kiki turned his head to look as well. My eyebrows shot up. Cinderella. Really? The girl who despises cleaning and always bribes Kate to do it for her? She was wearing a long, perfectly blonde wig all pined up with the blue headband in it, to hide her strawberry blonde with splashes of red in it hair. She had sparkles in the wig as well, and some on her cheeks, bringing out the blue and green of her eyes. Her dress was long and pouffy, a light blue, with the white lace underneath and the long light blue gloves. I snorted, looking at her feet. She even had the glass shoes on. She really went all out. "Do you like? It's Cinderella!" She said, spinning around in place.

Kate came skipping into the room with her own dress gathered in her hands and squealed. "Cinderella!" She cheered, looking over Tanya. "Very nice." She commented. My jaw dropped. Sleeping Beauty. And she looked exactly like her. Man, I _was_ going to stick out. She had her blonde hair flowing down her back, black splashes and all which I was grateful for, and a golden little crown on top of her head. Her dress had the white trim up top, the middle a dark pink, and the bottom a light pink, flowing down to her feet that were clad in pink heels. She also went into detail, and had the thick, gold necklace like Sleeping Beauty from the movie, and a rose in her hands. She turned to look at me. "Well? Let's see, Bella!"

Reluctantly, I placed Duchess down on the table, grabbed the vibrant, red apple, and got to my feet, walking around the couch. Both of them furrowed their brows before they beamed at me. "Snow White?" Tanya asked, excited.

I sighed in relief. At least they knew who I was. Mine wasn't anything like theres. I didn't look a thing like the Disney Snow White. No, instead, I was wearing black combat boots, white dress pants, a white blouse with the sleeves rolled up to my elbows, with white suspenders and a tie, white fingerless gloves, my ring, and goggles with white rims hanging around my neck. My hair was in it's usual fashion, black with blue splashes hanging down my back, and I wore my glasses since I still hadn't picked up any contacts. I was hit with regret; not regret of not wearing a dress, because I was _not_ going to wear a dress, but regret for saying I'd go to the stupid dance in the first place.

"That's so clever!" Kate cooed, twirling me around to look at me. "And it suits you, you know; I don't think I could picture you in that dress of hers."

"Let's just go and get this night over with." I grumbled, stalking out to Tanya's mustang, rolling the apple around in my hands.

"Aw. Don't be like that." Tanya said, starting the car. "You're going to have a horrible night if you start it in an attitude like the one you're in."

I stuck my tongue out at her and she just rolled her eyes. "Like I expected to have a good one." I scoffed quietly to myself.

"You will. I know it." Kate said.

The student parking lot was packed again when we pulled up next to the silver volvo. The lights were on in the gym and there were people standing around outside, laughing and talking to one another. Others at their cars, listening to music, some of them smoking. I shoved my hands into my pockets, well, one, the other had to hold that stupid apple. Tanya and Kate were bouncing with excitement as we approached the gym.

Inside it was the cliche look for a Halloween dance. Just enough lights to see, but not enough to read… Not that I was planning to, but you never know. If things got slow and dull or whatever… Any-who, tables were full of cookies and sandwiches and punch and pop and chips and candy. There were props everywhere you turned; coffins, cobwebs, giant rubber spiders, bats, and rats. Broom sticks, which all three of us snickered at, orange and black streamers, all kinds of decorations. Tables were along the walls of the gym, and the middle was all cleared off for a make shift dance floor with a DJ booth at one end of the room. And the people… there were so many people, more than I ever though I saw during classes. Witches, goblins, vampires, werewolves, mummies, frankensteins, anything you could think of, all were dancing on the dance floor, sitting at tables, standing in clumps, getting punch or snacks, all laughing and talking and joking with one another having a good time.

Was this what it was like to go out and party? Surely it couldn't be _that_ fun.

"The Swans finally arrive. Certainly kept us waiting, didn't you?" Edward's voice sounded to our side.

Oh my good gravy. I was no longer embarrassed or worried about my costume.

Edward was decked in a suit; the white button up, black pants, black dress coat, the black bow tie. He also had a red rose on his black coat, the left side. His hair was slicked back, he had the thin, fake facial hair, and to top it off, he had sparkly wings. "You're the Fairy Godfather." I deadpanned.

Edward grinned, hooking his arm around Tanya's waist and nodded. "_Cinderella's_ Fairy Godfather to be exact."

Kate cracked up before I did and Edward frowned, looking down at his costume. "Ah shut up, you guys." Tanya huffed. "Come on, ignore them." She mumbled, dragging Edward off to a table in the far back corner where I assumed the others were. Kate and I snickered the whole way there. Really. Only he would do that.

Emmett bit his lip, furrowing his brows before he clapped his hands and pointed at me. "Snow White?" I nodded and he pumped his fist in the air. "Called it! Ha!"

"And you're…um…hold on, I'll get it…" I muttered to myself.

Emmett had on a pair of grey jeans, ripped at the knees, the ankles, all over the place really. He also was wearing grey runners that looked trashed and ripped, and a grey T shirt all ripped and such. His black hair was slicked back, and big grey dog ears were on top of his head…Or were they wolf ears? He was also wearing contacts that made his normally warm golden eyes, a bright, glowing yellow. "Try to guess now." He said, picking up Alice by her shoulders and holding her up close to him as he grinned.

"The Big Bad Wolf?" I asked and he boomed out a laugh while nodding. "And that must make you Little Red Riding Hood."

The red thigh high boots made Alice as tall a I was, and with that she wore a red skirt, a red corset, and a long red hooded cape. The hood nearly swallowed her up hole; it was freaking big. She wore her hair different too; it wasn't all spiked up like usual, instead it was down and straightened, hanging short to her chin. Her bright golden eyes matched the red of her costume and the black of her hair perfectly, and I found I was staring until Kate gave me a little nudge. "Uhhhh."

"She likes your costume; is what she's trying to say." Kate supplied, grinning at me.

I nodded dumbly. It seemed like that was the only thing I was capable of doing lately.

"Thank you, Bella. I like yours too. It suits you." She replied.

That snapped me out of it though. "Why does everyone keep saying that? What does that even mean; 'it suits you'?" I huffed, setting my apple down on the table as I crossed my arms.

"It means no one can picture you in a dress." Rosalie said from the other side of the table.

Cocking my head to the side, I tried to place her costume. She wore a pink and purple dress that looked like it was made back in medieval days, but nothing other than that. There was no defining object that… wait. She had straightened her hair, which made it even longer, hanging down past her waist. "Rapunzel?" I asked.

Rosalie actually broke out into a smile and I was so shocked I had to sit down. "Finally! _Someone_ who doesn't need to be told. Thank you for that, Bella." She said. I just nodded, still not over the fact that Rosalie Hale just smiled _and_ thanked me, all in the span of ten seconds.

"How'd you guess?" Emmett asked, pouting slightly.

I shrugged. "Well that's who I thought of right away when I saw her on the first day, and now with her hair even longer…" I gestured. "She actually does look like Rapunzel."

Emmett eyes were wide as he pulled up a chair. "And what did you think _I_ looked like?" He asked, almost giddy for the answer. Apparently he thought flexing would jog my memory as well.

"Honestly, you reminded me of a tree." I replied.

He paused, blinking at me and then looked to Edward, blinking again. "A…a tree?" He asked, like he thought he might have heard wrong.

Nodding, I elaborated. "Well you're quite tall and very big. You're like a big tree. And your arms are like the size of tree trunks. They're very nearly the size of both my thighs."

And then his grin was back in place as he flexed once more. "Ha. Tree trunks. Jealous, Jasper?" He asked.

Jasper snorted. "Definitely." He replied sarcastically. Jasper had gone as Robin Hood it seemed. The pointed green hat with the red feather, the white button up with the pouffy cuffs, the dark green and black vest, and the dark green pants, with the black boots, all put together and finished with the bow over his shoulder. He looked rather dashing in it. He offered me a smile when he caught my eye and I blushed, looking away. I don't know why I did; it's not like I was checking him out or anything. I suppose it was reflex; someone meets my eye and I blush.

"You might want to busy yourself, Bella." Edward muttered, looking to the ground.

"Pardon?" I asked. Busy myself? That doesn't even make any sense.

"Jessi-" He began.

"Isabella!" Jessica gushed, grabbing my hand and pulling me to my feet. Oh man, I really didn't feel like putting up with all her chatter and gushing and squealing and touching tonight. Still, not wanting to be rude, I forced a smile. "Let me guess, you're…uh…" She furrowed her brows. "Hm…all white…" Kate and Tanya snickered behind me and I glanced at them to see them roll their eyes, along with Rosalie. Emmett, Edward, Jasper, and Alice were all glaring at her though. "An angel!" She said, batting her eyelashes at me.

The air I was breathing in caught in my throat and I sputtered, turning red as I started coughing. Tanya and Kate jumped up to pat my back, but both of them were still snickering. "Ex-excuse me?" I rasped. All I got was a wink in return that didn't help my choking fit. I looked to Tanya and Kate with wide eyes and they nodded. She was totally hitting on me! Where the hell did this come from?

"You want to get some punch?" She asked, not giving me a chance to answer as she grabbed my hand and started dragging me off again. I looked back over my shoulder, seeing everyone at the table wearing a frown, a glare, or crossed arms. None of them were please, and I can't say I was either. "Like my costume?" She asked when we stopped at the punch table.

Subtly pulling my hand from hers and shoving it into my pocket, I looked at her costume. I couldn't very well take it seriously. She was going as a Witch. A pointy hat and a black dress that you could barely call a dress. Jeeze, where were the adults that were supposed to be supervising? Since when was anyone allowed to wear something like this to a school dance? "Uh, y-yeah?" I asked, looking around for a way out. If I could just find Lauren or Angela, I could shift the conversation onto them and sneak off. But both girls were dancing.

And Jessica took my searching the crowd of dancing kids as an invitation. "I'd love to go dance!" She exclaimed, reaching for my free hand.

I quickly ran it through my hair, stepping backwards away from her. "No!" She looked hurt and I felt bad. Stupid compassion. Stupid manners. Stupid…stupid. "I-I-I mean, no thanks; I c-can't dance." Too intense. Too intense! I didn't know what to say or how to get out of here.

"Hey guys!" Erik said as he walked over to us. I wasn't surprised to see he was going as Zorro.

"Erik!" I exclaimed, perhaps a little too happy. "Good to see you, buddy. How are you? How're you liking the dance? Nice costume. Where'd you get it?" I asked, turning my full attention to him and shifting closer like I couldn't hear to get farther away from Jessica whose hip had been touching mine.

Erik looked confused. "Uh, I'm fine. The dance is fine. Thanks. And Party Palace in Port Angeles." He said, ticking things off on his hands. He gave me a 'what gives?' face and I discreetly nodded my head slightly in Jessica's direction while she poured herself more punch. An understanding and amused look passed over him. "Ah, she finally decided to ambush you, eh?"

"You _knew_?" I whisper yelled at him through a smile. Jessica looked from us and then to the dance floor again, frowning. "If you value our friendship at _all_ you'll save me right now."

Erik grinned. "Sorry, Isabella. Erik here's got a date who just came back from the washroom. You're on your own." He laughed, disappearing back into the crowd.

The smile on my face twitched and I fought hard to keep it on while turning back to Jessica who was watching me. Man alive, I wouldn't survive the night. Not like this. I shoved my hands back into my pockets and cleared my throat. "So, uh…um… yeah."

"You want to go find a table?" She asked, again dragging me off.

I had accepted defeat. I was resigned and hopeless, my shoulders slumped as I followed her across the dance floor. All up until I was swept up into big cold arms and twirled around. "Bella, you promised me a dance and I wanna get my groove on!" Emmett boomed.

Too happy to care about smothering it so no one could hear, I giggled and hugged Emmett tightly. "Thank you!" I muttered into his grey T shirt. Jessica was already lost in the sea of kids as we spun and twirled to the middle of the dance floor. "Honestly, thank you, Emmett. She just came out of nowhere and started hitting on me and I was so scared!"

Emmett grinned and laughed. "Only you wouldn't notice."

I frowned. "Notice what?"

He shook his head. "That the Swan Sisters peaked everyone, both boys and girls' interests the day they moved here, and now since you're the only single one; they've all got their sights set on you." My mouth fell open as my eyes grew wide. What on earth was he talking about.

"Th-That's impossible!" I gasped. "That just… what?… are people around here not just very touchy?" I asked meekly. He only laughed harder and shook his head. I felt myself pale. All those people… all of them always touching me. Oh man. "No… Seriously?"

"Does that gross you out or something?" Emmett asked, and since the first time I met him, his voice was serious.

Did it? No, I suppose not. I've always been able to appreciate good looks on boys _or_ girls. "No, it doesn't gross me out. It's just…shocking is all. I mean, this is _me_ we're talking about here."

Emmett's grin was back in place. "Let me get this perfectly clear, otherwise I'll get hit if I get it wrong. You're not grossed out by it." I shook my head and he nodded. "Alice will be happy to hear that."

Again, my jaw dropped as my eyes widened.

_WHAT?_

"Wh-Wh-Wh… I-I-I-I-…. Al-lice…She… I…" His grin widened as we spun around again.

"And judging by that stutter, I'm going to assume you like her." My cheeks were aflame. They were burning and the room had suddenly got hotter. "Whoa, you've got it bad, don't you?" He laughed, stopping to feel my cheeks with his freezing hands. "I'm kinda scared you're going to explode or melt or something."

I opened my mouth to say something, but there was no stutter, because I couldn't even utter a single sound.

"Aww, that's sweet, Bella Boo." Emmett cooed, spinning us back over towards the table in the back corner.

"W-Wait! I can't go over there n-n-now!" I said, trying to scramble out of his arms, but his grip was very tight.

He looked down at me, smiling a reassuring smile. "It'll be fine, I promise."

Edward and Tanya were on the dance floor when we arrived at the table, but the others were sitting around it, talking to one another. I scooted my chair right up beside Kate's, wanting to hide, and Emmett chuckled as he sat down next to Rosalie. "Did a lot of dancing out there, Bella?" Kate asked, pressing her hand to one of my cheeks.

"Hard work; trying to escape Jessica, you know?" I laughed feebly. The others did as well, though I heard a huff, and saw Alice slump back in her chair across the table.

"Well this girl wants to do a lot of dancing. They didn't crown me the queen for nothing." Kate said, getting up with Jasper.

Rosalie too got to her feet, grabbing Emmett's hand. "That crown will be mine by the end of the night. Let's show them how it's done." She smiled. I was blown away once again by just how pretty she was when she smiled.

And that left me and Alice, who I had yet to work up the courage to talk to. We sat there for at least two songs, her doing whatever she was doing, and me studying the table top. When I finally glanced up, my heart clenched. Alice was watching everyone dance on the dance floor, a frown pulling at her red lips, her eyes full of longing as she fiddled with her cape. She sighed silently, her eyes looking down to her hands.

I was up on my feet before I could talk myself out of it, standing in front of her chair with my hand outstretched for her. "Wanna dance?" I asked, biting my lip. My heart was thundering in my chest and I was sure it would jump up out of my throat and slap me at any second.

Alice's frown slowly switched into a bright, beaming smile as she nodded and stood up, taking my hand. My own lips pulled into a matching smile as I led her to the dance floor. But the second we actually got there, the song switched to a more upbeat clubbing one and I faltered. Alice looked at me curiously. "Something wrong?" She asked, her voice tinkling like wind chimes.

Scratching the back of my neck, I made invisible circles with my toes on the floor, trying to keep my stutter at bay. "Uh, you see, the thing is… I… I can't exactly, well, d-dance." I mumbled, feeling a blush creep up my neck again.

Alice giggled and pulled her hood down, taking my hand. "We could do something," She twirled away while holding my hand, only to twirl back into my arms, her back to my front, grinning as she looked over her shoulder at me. "Fancy. Or we could do something… simpler." She said, pointing across the dance floor. A couple were in the corner, the girl grinding all over the boy who was…er, enjoying himself. My blush was back tenfold.

"S-S-S-Something in-between?" I asked quietly.

Alice nodded, flashing me a smile. "I thought you might say that. Okay, I'll lead and you just keep this hand in mine," Her thumb rubbed mind of the hand that was still in hers. "And this hand on my back or hip." She said, patting the hand that was on her hip. Yup, definitely felt my blush now. I hadn't even realized that's where it was until she pointed it out.

With that, she took off. It was actually a lot easier than I had thought it would be. All I had to do was follow her, and sometimes mirror her actions. Even with the dancing, club music, we were twirling and spinning and swaying, all over the dance floor. With ever spin, the red hooded cape Alice wore would fly up from the momentum and wrap around our legs, and I thought that was pretty cool. And whenever Alice tried to out trump me or pull of a particularly eye-catching move, I'd get her back, tickling her sides, or wrapping my arms around her and lifting her off the floor mid fancy move. We were laughing and giggling the entire time, and I was actually enjoying myself. I never thought I'd see the day where I had fun at a party, or where I'd willingly dance, not afraid to make a fool out of myself.

The end of the fast paced song came up and I was panting as I dipped Alice to the ground in a goofy fashion, trying to out trump her twirl from the beginning of the song. I had no idea how Alice wasn't exhausted like I was at that point, but she seemed like the dancer type, and was probably used to this. My hands stayed on her back as I pulled her back up to her feet, even as she was standing, and hers stayed gripping to the fronts of my suspenders as we smiled at each other. A slow song came on; the first in like an hour, and people started leaving the dance floor while couples stayed on, the lights dimming.

When I went to step back to head to the table, Alice pulled me back closer to her by my suspenders. "What's up?" I said breathlessly.

She bit her lip, fiddling with one strap of my suspenders while searching my eyes for who knew what. "Kiss me." She whispered. My eyes widened as I stared at her, blinking when I realized she had actually just said what I thought she did. My eyes left hers to lock onto her red lips. And then they were getting closer and I found I was leaning in. I looked back up to her eyes; they looked darker now, almost black, and were slowly closing.

A flash of black caught my eye over her shoulder, and by reflex I looked up at it for a quick second before looking back down to her. Only to pause and look back up into a pair of brown and blue eyes. And I knew they were not mine because first of all, I was wearing all white, not black, and secondly, the brown was so dark it almost looked black and the blue was a very murky looking blue. And since no one else at school had hetero-chromia eyes like my sisters and I did; this had to be a Witch. Probably the Witch who sent Tanya the Terror.

So what did my stupid ass do when the pair of eyes turned around and started bolting to the other side of the room? Gave chase, that's what.

Brushing past Alice who's face fell, I muttered a distracted apology, trying not to lose the black cloaked figure who was becoming increasingly hard to see past the dancing crowd of students. I had to elbow my way through as I attempted to run after the Witch, or I suppose Sorcerer or even warlock at this point. I could make out that they were wearing, well, actually something very similar to Alice. Thigh high black boots, short black shorts, a black blouse, and a black hooded cape. Annoyingly enough, their hood stayed up even while they ran, so I couldn't get a look at their face.

Dead end. Ha! A victory grin started to slowly pull at my lips as this person ran towards a wall, the wall with all the snacks and drinks on the tables and everything, so there was no door. But the grin was gone as I watched them leap onto one of the tables, throw open the window above it, and hoist themselves out. Growling in frustration, I did the same, and jumped onto the table. Hoisting myself out the window was a little more difficult than I thought it would be, mostly because I was a klutz, and I ended up on my back on the other side in the grass.

But that hardly deterred me as I was back up on my feet seconds later, running across the field still chasing the black cape that was dancing in the wind just a few feet in front of me.

'**Bella, what the hell? Alice said you just took off. She's scared that she frightened you away.'**

I had to ignore Tanya; I needed all the concentration I could get as I focused on not falling flat on my face, especially when they took off into the woods. Hopping a fallen log, I started to regret wearing white, knowing if I fell in here, everything would be ruined. No amount of bleach could fix it.

'_**Bella, what's going on?'**_

Sorry, Kate; gotta ignore you too. I continued on after the figure who I was assuming was female at this point because it took me this long to realize that guys wouldn't be wearing shorts like that, not to mention boots like that. Man, am I slow tonight or what? She made an abrupt left turn, and I followed, ducking under branches, pushing bushes out of my way so I wouldn't get hit in the face by any, jumping over small-ish boulders.

She ran into a small clearing that I followed her into; the trees spaced out into a circle sort of, and there were few to no fallen tree trunks or logs. There _was_ a little group of large boulders on one side, and various uprooted things that I tried not to trip in. But right in the middle, she stopped all of a sudden and spun around with her foot out. And since it was so sudden, I hadn't stopped, and got that foot in the chest, launching me back a few feet.

When I opened my eyes, I could see stars and the tops of the very tall trees. I gasped in air, wincing as my chest ached. She was going to pay for that. I was going to – oh my good gravy!

I rolled to the side, narrowly missing the broken tree branch smashing down where I had just been laying. She picked it back up, raising it over her head, I still couldn't see her face which was starting to bother me, and brought it back down towards me. I shot my feet up, kicking it out of her hands, and rolled off to the side to jump to my feet.

"You have a very interesting fear, Isabella." She said. Her voice was wrong though. It sounded like it was a mesh of two voices, and it was just wrong. As wrong as it was however, it sounded kind of familiar. "I enjoy it much more than Tanya's."

"Who are you?" I demanded.

They ignored it though. "My my, look at that ring. How very pretty. It's seems as though you've developed an affinity while I was away."

"Yeah, tell me how you like it." I snarled. The air around my right hand rippled as I held it up and back like a baseball pitcher. I squeezed the energy into a compact little ball and hurled it towards the girl, watching the air ripple as it went. But my aiming sucked and I got right beside her instead, only knocking her to the side as the ground cratered.

Her head whipped up to face me, and the moonlight caught those eyes once more. "I like it very, very much." She replied, holding her own hand up. The air around her own fist rippled and she flicked her wrist towards me. The ripples shot at me much faster than mine did to her, and even the ground and grass rippled.

It felt like I was hit by a big, invisible wall, and launched back against the group of boulders. The world started to spin and I had to hold my head for a second to make it stop. What. The. Hell. She had my affinity as well?

Growling to myself once again, I started maneuvering my hands like I was packing a snowball in tight. In reality, I was packing an energy ball, for lack of a better term, in real tight. So tight, actually, with so much energy, that the energy started layering and rubbing together, creating sparks within the ball. Little zaps and flashes of light, it looked like gold light, maybe white, it was too fast to catch a colour, only the light. Again, I wound back and tossed it at her much faster, this time hitting her square in the chest, and watched with satisfaction as she flew back into a tree, slumping down at the base of it.

I pulled myself to my feet and staggered towards her, walking more sturdily and straight as my ring shone. She looked at it and glared before Blinking out of the clearing. Alarmed that she'd get away, I raced over to the tree and Shimmered, hoping to catch the essence of her Blink and follow her to her destination.

Which totally worked and I would have fist pumped had I not had to start chasing her down again. We were on a street, I wasn't sure which one, but it was the kind you walked down, made of bricks. There weren't many people around, a few walking down the streets, others entering stores, others exiting, and with a start, I realized that we were in a Wiccan city. Sorcerers and Witches were the people walking around, in stores and out.

With that in mind, I pulled my hand back and let it shoot forward, sending another rippling, flashing ball after her. I hit the mail box she ran past instead, watching the thing explode and fly off, scattering everyone's mail all over the street. I ran through the white envelopes and papers that were raining down on the street, following the girl into an alley. She was fit, I'd give her that. I flicked my wrist, watching a flashing and rippling ball narrowly miss her and hit the wall, the bricks cracking and getting punched back further into the wall as dust exploded, flying everywhere with chips of the bricks.

Water splashed up around us as we ran through a huge puddle on the side of the road after stepping off the curb. She ducked into an apartment building and I followed, zipping through before the glass door closed. She started skipping up the stairs, taking nearly three at a time and I huffed, scrambling up them after her. I needed to participate in gym more often; my lungs were starting to burn and I couldn't feel my legs anymore. This was a hell of a lot of running to do, especially with all the dancing from before.

She left the staircase, kicking open a door that led to one of the halls with all the doors to apartments in the, and I tackled her into the first one I could, grinning at her yelp. But of course we were in a Wiccan city, and nothing there is ever as it seems. This person didn't have a regular old security system that had an alarm that would go off. No, they had a deafening alarm that went off and then the room started to spin. All the furniture stayed in place like they were glued to the walls and floor, though I knew it was just part of the spell, but the rest of the room started to turn and spin.

The girl and I slid to one of the walls as the carpeted floor was now to our sides. I still needed answers though, so I knocked her one good upside the head. "Who are you?" I snapped.

Her fist shot out of nowhere, getting me in the eye, and I cried out, falling back and cupped it. She stalked towards me, whipping out a knife and reaching for her hood. I kicked the knife out of her hands though, and she left the hood on, turning to scramble around for it. Again though, we slid down to the roof as the floor was now above us, and I landed on my shoulder. Rolling over, I got to my feet and charged at the girl, tackling her to the floor. I grabbed her hood, but her elbow came up and knocked my hands away. I settled for punching her in the back.

She whimpered and pushed up from the ground, or ceiling rather, that she was facing, pushing me off her in the process, and made a run for the door. I kicked my feet out, getting her and tripping her, sliding down to the wall again. This time I landed on my feet, and ran over to the girl, kicking her side as she went to get up. "Your name, now!" I yelled, trying to be heard over the alarm.

Her fist shot out and Charlie horsed me, making me stagger back while I clutched it, and she raced off to the door again, whipping it open and ran out. I followed after her, growling dark words to myself.

The minute I stepped out the door though, I was flipped back right side up and landed on the hall floor with a thump on my side. She too, was rolling over and getting to her feet as she ran off again. Groaning, I rolled over and threw a ball of flickering energy down the hall. The walls, floor, and ceiling all cracked as the ball passed them, and I cackled as she flew off sideways into a corner. "Ha!" I called after her.

She turned; flicking her wrist at me, sending ripples my way. The cracks on the walls and ceiling and floor all puffed up dust and debris with her ball, but she missed me as I ducked into a doorway of another apartment. I raced out into and down the hall when I heard another door open, and caught sight of the black cape heading up another flight of stairs.

Shimmering to the top of the flight of stairs, I reached out and grazed the black hooded cape as she ran past and into another hall. I followed, both of us racing down the hall. I was trying to pump my legs to go faster, but they were jelly, even with my ring glowing twenty four seven to give me energy; it couldn't stop the burn of muscles. Then the girl did something I hadn't expected, and smashes through the window at the end of the hall, falling down to the street below. I stopped at the window sill and looked out and down, watching her Blink to the bottom on her feet. Sneaky little…

When I shimmered down there, she was racing around the corner of the street. Just as I was about to run after her again, I felt something. It was like someone had grabbed my arms and legs, and then I was sailing through the air, being held up against the wall of the apartment building by nothing. Yet I could still feel it.

Two men stepped into the light the street lamp was giving off, looking up at me curiously. They both looked like Swat with their helmets, their vests, and pants, everything padded. They weren't though. They were Wiccan police. They just had to wear all that for protection against spells and affinities. "Let me down!" I yelled, trying to struggle against the invisible force. "She's getting away!"

One of the men had his hand up towards me and I realized that he was telekinetic, and _he_ was the one holding me here. "Calm down there, Miss." He said with a British accent. "The only one I see around here is you. Isn't that right?" He asked the other.

The other one nodded, also speaking in a British accent, and I gathered that we were in a Wiccan city in England. Great. "No, I haven't seen anyone but her either."

"She was right there. She ran around the corner!" I growled.

"Listen, lady." The first began. Not in an annoyed voice, or even angry, more of a friendly matter of fact one. "You can't just go smashing through windows like that. Nor can you break into people's apartments. You think we can't hear that alarm?"

"No – I – It was her! Trust me, she's getting away!" I said, desperate to be let go. She was probably gone now anyways. "Let me _go!"_ I flicked my wrist, shooting a flickering ball at them, but hit the news stand on the other side of the street instead.

The two looked at it and then me. The second one, spoke up. "You have terrible aim, love, you know that?" He asked.

"Yes, I know that. I'm new to this." I snapped back.

"Well it's simple really," The second one said. "You picture in your head where you want to hit, but you don't actually look, otherwise you won't get it three quarters of the time. You have to focus on your target, not the actual wanting to get it there part."

This time when I let the ball of flickering energy go, it shot off, taking the second Wiccan officer with it across the street. It was only a little one; I didn't want to _hurt_ them, otherwise I'd never be let go.

He jumped to his feet, looking to hid buddy and waved his hand at me. "See? My advice _does_ work. Maybe you should follow it sometime." He turned to look at me. "Knew you had it in you, sweetheart."

"Well what should we do about her now?" The first asked.

"Uh. I'm real sorry about everything." I bit my lip. "I just didn't know how to control my affinity, but thanks to you helpful, fine gentlemen; I'll be fine now. It won't happen again, I promise."

The second guy nodded. "Exactly. Let her down; I can't imagine that's comfortable in the slightest. You _should_ run along now though, we can't guarantee you'll be let off the hook so easily by the next people who find you. It's Halloween, and people have little patience this evening."

I nodded furiously, flashing them a smile, and soon the force holding me against the wall lessened as I slowly slid down to the sidewalk. "Thank you." I called over my shoulder, running off around the corner of the street, intent on finding that girl.

Of course she wasn't there though. And of course half way down the road, someone was having a street party. Which meant my chances of finding her were like one in a billion. I sighed and ran my hands through my hair, looking down the street. Nearly everyone down there was dressed in all black.

So close… I was so close! I had her! I had her and then she got away! I – I should have done something in the apartment. Something different. Or even in the clearing. Before that, I should have gotten Kate and Tanya to help, I should have…

The dance.

_Crap!_

Alice!

"Oh no. Ohhhh no. No, oh no, oh no, oh no." This wasn't happening. This is wasn't happening. No. Bad Bella. "Stupid, stupid, stupid." I growled, smacking my forehead with each 'stupid'. What she must think. "Okay, calm down, stay calm. This is fixable. We can fix this. We're fine. We're okay."

After kicking the lamp post beside me and then crying out because those things are damn sturdy, I shimmered back to the Manor in Forks. That's what I liked about Shimmering. As long as you knew the exact spot of where you wanted to go, distance didn't matter.

Though it does get a little disorienting. I stumbled and grabbed onto the door knob to steady myself before looking around. The dance was probably over by now; chasing the girl down and fighting with her took much longer than I thought. But Tanya's mustang wasn't in the garage or driveway when I looked which meant those two were out. And they were either out out, or at the Cullens out.

'_Guys?'_

'**Bella!'**

'_**Where the hell did you go?'**_

They both snapped through the mental link at the same time and I grimaced. _'It's a long story and I'll tell you everything later but first you need to tell me where you are and if Alice is with you.'_

The two remained silent.

'_I know what you think and probably what everyone else thinks but I didn't just leave like that, I promise. There was an issue. A __wiccan__ issue.'_

'_**She's at the Cullen mansion. The rest of us went out to see a movie.'**_ Kate said, though she still didn't sound too happy with me.

Racing to the garage, I hopped on my bike and started it up, revving the engine a few times. It had been a while since I went for a ride. _'Thanks. And I promise, neither of you will be angry with me once you hear what I just went through.'_

'**It's not us you need to worry about, Bella. It's Alice. She was really upset.'** Tanya said quietly.

Ah crap. Nothing even happened and already I'm screwing up.

**XxxXxxXxxX**

**Alrighty, there you have a new chapter. I rather like this one. ^^**

**Tell me what you think. Your thoughts on this mystery person. On everything.**

**-Paige.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

'**Wait just one minute there, missy.'** Great; that was Tanya's reprimanding voice. Whatever it is that I _might_ have _possibly_ done couldn't wait until I got back? Until I had gotten back and explained why I had just been in England?

'_**You were in **__**England**__**?'**_ Kate exclaimed.

Again; this couldn't wait? Seriously guys.

'**Listen,'** Tanya began. **'Just because she's got a broken heart doesn't mean you need a broken head, alright? Put on a helmet and that coat I bought you before you leave. You're riding a motor cycle for goodness sake.'**

Grudgingly, I got off the bike and went to the back metal cupboards in the garage. A sleek black helmet with a tinted visor was there, along with a black leather coat. Fancy as hell, but annoying to remember to use. Picturing a big brick wall, I slid on the coat and helmet, not wanting those two yahoos listening in on my apology to Alice. My life wasn't some drama to be watched or read about.

And then I was off, flying down the driveway with an enormous grin on my face. I really missed going that fast. Sure, Tanya's mustang was fast and all, but there's nothing out there that can beat a motor cycle; if only for the fact that you're not cooped up in a box. I like feeling the wind in my hair, because then it honestly almost felt like flying. Who doesn't like flying –other than airplanes, those things terrify me, which Tanya and Kate like to giggle about- everyone's had a dream where they've flown at least once in their life.

The trees of the forest whipped past me as I raced down the road, the lines splitting said road in half becoming one long yellow streak.

All too quickly for my tastes, since I wanted to ride more and I hadn't really thought of what to say, I could spot a twisting gravel driveway that led to a big white mansion. Sighing, I turned into it and slowed down to nearly a snail's pace, practically crawling up the driveway. You know that feeling you get; you get de ja vous but you know for certain you've never done or seen or heard whatever it was that gave you de ja vous? I got that right about then; riding my motor cycle up the Cullen's driveway trying to think of an apology for Alice. (1)

Parking off to the side of their garage as to not block anyone who might try to leave or enter, I pulled off my helmet and set it down on the seat. I kept the coat because it was only then that I realized I was shivering. And it was only on their porch, about to knock, that I realized why. My shoes were the only thing that looked like it did when I left for the dance. My pants had grass stains on them, dirt stains, and the ankles were wet, probably from the puddle, along with the front of my shirt, all dirty and wrinkled, and my tie had dried blood on it. I raised a hand to my nose, but figured that it must have been the other girl's 'because I wasn't bleeding at all.

Re-tucking the front of my shirt into my pants and trying to smooth everything out, I knocked on the door. I listened for footsteps as my heart beat wildly in my chest, but heard none. So you can imagine how high I jumped when the door opened. Yeesh, they sure were very quiet.

Esme was standing there. At first she seemed like she was trying to be miffed at me, and reasonably so –I imagine Alice told her what happened- but once she saw me standing there, dirty, wrinkled and shivering; her face broke out into concern. "Get in here, Bella. What _happened_ to you?" She asked, pulling me into the warm mansion doorway.

"I, uh, I fell." I replied, hugging my coat closer to my body. Esme's golden eyes looked skeptical, but she didn't say anything. "I-Is Alice home, by any chance?"

Esme hesitated, like she was waiting for an answer herself before nodded. "She's up in her room. I'll call up once I'm done making you some soup."

"That's not necessary." I tried to tell her.

She just waved it off. "You're shivering and cold and damp, Bella. You'll catch a cold. When I call up; you'll come downstairs, have some nice hot soup, and watch TV in the living room all bundled up in blankets. Understood?" She said, putting her hands on her hips.

Ducking my head, I muttered my reply. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good!" She beamed, waltzing off to the kitchen.

Now to Alice. Upstairs. In her room. Now. As in; right now. Any time, feet. Come on; don't be such a chicken. I took a deep breath and slowly made my way to the stairs, creeping up them one at a time. I still hadn't thought of what to say. What do you say to that? 'No, I wasn't running away from _you_, I was chasing a Witch whose messing with the only family I have left.' Yeah, like that would bode well with her.

Chewing on my bottom lip, I could already feel the stutter, and I hadn't even started talking yet. Maybe I should come back later. You know, go help Esme in the kitchen with the soup first. No, you go and you talk, Bella, and you make things right.

Seriously though, first you need to stop talking to yourself. It's a little weird.

I shook my head, stopping in front of the very last door on the second floor. Gulping, I raised my fist, knocking on the wooden door, not entirely sure it was audible. "Come in." Guess it was.

"H-Hey, Alice." I stuttered, peeking in the open door. It was dark in there, like real dark, no lights, and I couldn't see a thing. Still, I didn't want to risk Esme listening in, though I knew she wouldn't intentionally do that, so I closed the door behind me. Which, you know, evidently wasn't smart seeing as I tripped over my own feet trying to walk to her desk.

Giggles! That was a good sign! I could hear Alice's giggles as I pushed myself to my feet again and flashed a smile in the direction of them. "I guess you can't see anything, huh?" She said.

"Well, er, no. My eyes haven't adjusted to the dark yet like yours." I mumbled, brushing off my tie even though her floor was cleaner than I was.

"The desk chair is about three steps to your left." She said her voice quiet and sad sounding without the giggle.

And it was, I found out as I sat down on it, fiddling my thumbs. "S-So, how come you didn't go see a movie with the others?" I asked.

She sighed and I could just faintly make out her form laying on her bed. I was starting to see a little better, but still not well enough. Only shapes and forms. No detail. "Didn't feel like it." She murmured.

I cleared my throat, looking down at my feet. "Well what did _you_ want to do?"

"Go home to lay in the dark and kick myself." She replied without missing a beat.

Ah. Brutal honesty. "Oh." My voice sounded kind of strangled. Why did she want to kick herself? Did she regret asking me? "Um, w-why?" I asked meekly.

She sighed again, sitting up against her headboard and put her head in her hands. "I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, I just… I thought…." She laughed sadly. "I should have taken a hint watching you freak out when Jessica tried. I'm sorry."

Hold on a minute, what is she saying? Shaking my head, I stood up and went for the bed, bashing my knee on it in the process. "Gah!"

"Are you alright?" She asked, moving to see if I was okay.

I waved it off. "Peachy," I said dismissively, trying to turn her focus back on the conversation. "Listen Alice, this is… different, for me. I turned her down," I paused. "Well I think I did; I'm not really sure what happened there, she was acting kind of weird." I shook my head again. "Anyways, I turned her down because I don't like her like that. I've never liked _anyone_ like that. Well, until you. And I wasn't running away from you."

Alice's golden eyes shone in the dark, and I could see her face finally; her smooth lips pursed, looking black rather than red in the dark like this, her bangs hanging down in her eyes. She was looking at me curiously, but with hope in said eyes. "Why _did_ you run away, then?" She asked.

Right. Huh. What to say… what to say… "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but it's not important anyways. What's important is that I should have stayed. So, _I'm_ sorry." Feeling bold, I reached up to tuck her silky hair behind her ear, brushing my fingers along her cheek in the process.

Alice was beaming yet again, a big grin taking place on her lips as her eyes sparkled. "Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I have that kiss now?" She asked, biting her lip.

"…Yeah." I squeaked.

Alice swooped in, capturing my lips in a sweet, tender kiss. Feather light, but all the same; it caused fireworks to explode behind my eyelids.

She pulled back far enough to rest her forehead against mine, biting her lip while she smiled at me again. My eyes were wide and I felt like I was near the point of hyperventilating while my heart thundered in my chest achingly loud. Closing my eyes, I leaned forward to kiss her again.

**XXxXXxXXxXX**

There was fast paced padding of feet running up the stairs and down the hall towards the bathroom I was in. Esme felt that hot soup and blankets weren't enough to prevent any cold, and sent me up here to take a hot bath too. I was kind of glad; this bathroom was loaded. So many different kids of shampoos and soaps, bar soaps, gel soaps, foam soaps, bath salts, bubble bath (Which I _might_ have used), bath scents. Everything. And it was _so_ relaxing. If I wasn't so scared of accidentally drowning, I could have totally fallen asleep there.

And since there was a billion rooms and washrooms in this mansion, and both Alice and Esme knew I was in here; I hadn't locked the door because I felt it was unnecessary. Looking back on it, that was a very stupid mistake for me to make.

The bathroom door swung open and I squealed, nearly jumping out of my skin as Tanya and Kate marched in, closing the door behind them. _"Hey!"_

"You need to tell us what happened right now!" Kate said, hoisting herself onto the bathroom counter.

Tanya nodded, sitting on the toilet seat. "It's been eating at us all night."

Glaring at them and making sure I had bubbles over me, I growled. "I'm _naked_ here!"

Tanya scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Please, it's a bubble bath, you're covered up." Kate snickered and I glared at her. "And even if you weren't, it's not like you've got something we've never seen before."

Blushing like mad over the subject of this conversation, I huffed. "What?" They've seen me naked before? When!

Kate gave a nod. "Unless in the past twelve years or so you've gotten like a tattoo we don't know about."

I averted my eyes, looking to the wall.

"You _did_?" Kate gasped. "Where? Let me see!"

I sunk further into the tub as she hopped off the counter. "No, I'm naked in here!"

"One thing at a time, guys." Tanya said, pulling Kate back. Kate huffed and crossed her arms, sitting back up on the counter. "Now, tell us what happened, right from the beginning."

"Seriously guys. This isn't the time, nor the place. I can't even look at you right now, and my bubbles are diminishing!" My voice rose an octave when I noticed that my bubbles had started to diminish.

Tanya sighed. "Fine, but hurry up." She said, getting to her feet with Kate and walking to the door.

"My clothes?" I asked.

"Right. Sorry; you'll have to suffer just regular old jeans and a shirt." Kate said, tossing a bag of clothes beside the tub. I frowned.

When they left, I stayed in the tub for a few more minutes, staring at the clothes until sighing and getting out. They were in fact regular old clothes; jeans, a long white shirt, and a black My Chemical Romance T shirt over top. I quickly towel dried my hair and made my way down the stairs and into the living room where I could hear everyone else.

The room and everyone in it was fuzzy and I could barely make out faces until Esme handed me my glasses I asked her to hold onto. When everything was clear, I saw Emmett staring at me with a grin. "What?"

"You look normal." He replied.

Huffing, I put my hands on my hips. "And exactly what does that mean?" I snapped, but then paused and realized for the first time that my glasses were crooked. Frowning, I took them off and felt along the rims. Yup, definitely crooked. How the… oh. I raised a hand up to my face, feeling the top of my cheek under my left eye and winced. A bruise was starting to form there.

"What's wrong?" Esme asked, looking worried as I put my glasses back on. "You're hurt! You've got a bruise! How did that happen?" She asked, looking closely at it.

Stuffing my hands into my pockets, I shrugged my shoulders. "Must have tripped sometime tonight or something." I replied, blushing.

"Bella…" She said, clearly not buying it. "Hold on, I'll get some ice."

'**Is that part of the reason you ran off?'** Tanya asked.

'_Yeah.'_ I replied, frowning again. Freaking Witch person got me in the eye. I had barely felt it at the time, I was just focusing on stopping her, but she got me fairly good.

Alice was up on her feet and in front of me seconds later, looking closely at the bruise. "Are you alright?" She murmured, ghosting her fingers over it. I would have nodded had the possibility of her poking me in the eye not been great. Instead, I settled for shrugging my shoulders indifferently.

"We probably _should_ be heading home." Tanya said, frowning as she walked over to me, looking at the bruise. "It's late and there's school tomorrow."

Alice frowned, stepping closer to me. "So soon? You guys just came back." She said, her hand reaching out for mine, hesitating for a second before she intertwined them. I smiled down at her and she smiled back.

"What _else_ happened while we were gone?" Kate asked, her mouth hanging open while she sat beside Jasper. She looked to him and he nodded with a smile before she looked back to me and Alice. "Seriously?" I nodded, looking to Alice who also nodded. Okay, it was official. "Finally!"

"Finally?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. Only after had I realized Alice said the same thing.

Tanya nodded with a scoff. "It was really, painfully, obvious there."

"Are you kidding me?" Alice said, looking to Kate and then her family. "It was a toss up for the longest time. We've got bets around the house on how she feels for me."

Kate furrowed her brows. "You just had to look at the signs." At the raised eyebrows she saw, she explained while I huffed and looked away, fighting off another blush. "Bella doesn't talk to people, she most definitely doesn't smile at them, she hardly looks at them, really. She's always smiling and _laughing_ around you, Alice." Kate said in a very 'duh!' voice.

"I'll be waiting in the car!" I called out, pulling Alice along behind me as I marched outside to the mustang. "Shoot. My bike." I murmured, swinging on my coat.

Alice waved it off. "Leave it. It'll give you a reason to stop by tomorrow after school." She giggled. Blushing, I nodded, looking to my feet while I muttered some ridiculous answer. "Alright, well I suppose I'll see you at school tomorrow." She said, rocking back and forth on the front porch, her hands shoved into the pockets of her sweat pants. With every rock, she got closer and closer to me. "So… goodbye." She murmured.

"Bye." I whispered back, still not moving from the steps in front of her.

We stood there, rocking, and fiddling with the hem of my shirt, staring at each other with a smile on both our faces. "See you." She said.

Nodding, I absently replied. "So long."

"Au revoir."

"Later."

"Until we meet again."

"Um… okay, you win." I sighed, looking down with a smile.

Alice smirked. "Bella, you have to leave so I can miss you!" She huffed, pushing on my hips. I walked backwards, smiling down at her, only stopping when my back met the car. "Was that so hard?"

Dramatically clutching my chest, I nodded. "So very painful. I don't think I'll make it! Tell…my sisters…that…I…"

"Stop being a goof and get in the car, Bella." Alice grinned.

Gasping and clutching my sides, I widened my eyes, pretending to be dying. "Oh no! I think perhaps I need the kiss of life!"

Alice shook her head with a smirk, and for a second I could have sworn her eyes flashed before she pressed her lips against mine. "Better?" She mumbled against them.

"Mm. Still a little sore." I whispered back, my hands reaching to tangle in her hair.

"Gross! Don't do that on my poor baby!" Tanya squealed, running over to shoo us away from the car as she wiped where I was leaning on with her elbow. "Swap spit somewhere else."

"Tanya!" I exclaimed, my cheeks on fire.

Alice giggled, skipping up the stairs of the porch, patting Kate's shoulder as they passed. "See you guys tomorrow." She chimed.

I grinned up at her before climbing into the back of the mustang.

I couldn't wait for tomorrow.

**xxXxxXxxXxx**

"And then you two yahoos busted in the bathroom." I finished.

We were all up, lounging on Tanya's bed, sprawled out in odd positions as I retold the story of this evening. Kate's head was hanging off the foot of the bed, Tanya was laying in the middle of the bed, my head was resting on her stomach while my feet were propped up on the wall by the head of the bed. I wasn't one for girl talk -the conversation got that feeling once I started talking about how I raced over to the Cullen's place- but if they always ended up like this, maybe I'd start making exceptions. I hadn't chilled with those two like this in years.

"Thoughts on the subject?" I asked.

"You two make a very cute couple!" Kate cooed.

"Not what I meant." I muttered.

Tanya huffed. "I don't know. I think I _might_ remember someone like you described at the dance. There were so many people all dressed up. It could have been Erik wearing a hood I saw."

"And you say they had the same affinity as you?" Kate asked.

Nodding, I bit my lip. "They… they didn't use it as much as me though. And they were exhausted. Why wouldn't they suck in more energy from my ring, or even people from the street we ran down?"

"Maybe they were new to it as well?" Tanya suggested.

"I don't know." I shrugged my shoulders.

There was silence for a few minutes as everyone chewed over what I had told them. I still couldn't believe that she got away. "Do you guys want to go have a look around as much as I do?" Kate asked quietly.

"Yes." Both Tanya and I replied. Tanya sighed, sitting up. "It's late though and we can't just skip school in the morning."

Grinning, I sat up as well. "Not a problem." I closed my eyes, focusing on pushing energy out from me to them instead of sucking it from them. They gasped and I smirked, waiting a few seconds before stopping. My ring shone, replenishing my spent energy and I looked to the others who looked wide awake now.

Tanya smiled slowly and then nodded. "Okay, go get dressed and we'll meet back here after. Bella, you remember the destination of your first shimmer there?" I nodded and she looked to Kate. "We should probably bring Kiki just in case."

We didn't actually need him. It's not like he could fight if something happened, but just having him there… it would help. We drew strength from his presence, I guess because he was Charlie's who was our dad.

When we regrouped back in the room, we were all wearing black which I thought was tacky. It's not like we were robbing a bank or anything. Jeeze, we were corny sometimes. Tanya was wearing black high heel boots, black tights, a black cardigan, and her black coat. Kate wore black jeans, black sneakers, a black hooded sweater with the hood up, and her coat as well. I was wearing my black combat boots, black dress pants, a black blouse with the sleeves rolled up, grey suspenders, black goggles to cover my eyes -I didn't want her recognizing me by my eyes- and a black fedora. What? I like to look good. Sue me. Kiki was perched on my shoulder, and I reached down, taking Kate's hand who took Tanya's, and then shimmered.

The brick street, just like before. It was wetter than before though, which led me to believe that it had rained here since last time. Still, I looked around, nodding to myself as I recognized the buildings. "This is it. It's where she Blinked to. You think she lives around here or something?"

Tanya pursed her lips, looking around as well. "Hard to say. If she does; how'd she even know of us? But if she doesn't; why Blink here?" She mused. "Where'd she run to?"

Turning around again, I pointed down the street. "This way." I replied, starting down that way with those two following. It was just the same as hours ago, only fewer people walking the streets, and less buildings were open. I pointed to where the mail box used to be. "Took out a mailbox there when I tried to get her." Kate's eyes widened. "Yeah, that's what I did. This affinity is much… more different than I first thought." We passed the mailbox spot, going further down the street. "And then she turned down this alley." I led them down it, shivering slightly. Should have brought a coat. "Got the wall." I murmured, running my fingers over the bricks that were punched further into the wall than others. This time we walked around the big puddle instead of running through it and I nodded to the apartment building. "Went in there, in the trippy apartment, then out the window on the other side." I grabbed each of their hands, shimmering to the other side of the building. "And then she ran down there." I pointed to the corner.

Kate and Tanya looked around, crouching down to look at the broken glass that was still on the ground. I looked up to see that the window _had_ been replaced though. Kate put her hands on her hips, pursing her lips as she looked from the broken glass on the ground to the window above. Then she looked at the building in general and hummed to herself, furrowing her brows. "Maybe they've got cameras or something we could look at."

"Cameras?" I asked, making sure I had heard her right. Yes, they installed cameras because they knew I'd be coming to search for someone who probably, but not definitely at this point, is magically harassing my family. Life was just that easy.

"Don't give me that look. Cameras, you know, some sort of security system." She explained, glaring at me.

"Oh, but they do! They've got spinning rooms, and ear drum shattering noises." I clasped my hands together, twirling around. "_Those_ were fun."

"Enough with the attitude, let's just go look and see." Tanya said, sensing a fight brewing. I sighed and nodded, smiling apologetically at Kate. Being back here just put me in a bad mood. There was so much more I could have done. She might not have gotten away if I had.

Kate smiled back and we made towards the door of the building. "What floor were you on?" She asked.

Pursing my lips, I thought back to it. I couldn't exactly remember what floor; I just remembered scrambling up the stairs after her. However, my last shimmer should be vaguely fresh and I could probably find it. "Um…" I reached out, placing a hand on both their shoulders, shimmering to the top of a flight of stairs. "This one."

Tanya held open the door for us both, looking up into corners of the hall. "Ah, there. See?" She said, pointing to the corner of the hall we had just stepped into. "Look, it's angled so it gets the whole hall. There's no way it'd miss the two of you."

"I don't think that was there before." I murmured. They both looked at me, raising their eyebrows and I frowned, closing my eyes. I remembered the hall, racing down it after her… the window shattering as she flung herself out…skidding to a stop at the sill… looking over my shoulder to see if the noise disturbed anyone from their apartments…shimmering down to the road below. I don't remember seeing any camera, and a big black one against cream coloured walls definitely stuck out. But I didn't know for sure. "I don't know, maybe I was just too distracted to notice it." I shrugged.

"Come on, let's go have a look. The security office is usually down in the basement so it's out of the way and not tempting anyone to break into it." Kate said, heading for the door we had just walked through.

"Anyone but us." Tanya smiled.

Kate was right. The security office _was_ down in the basement, right passed the janitor's office and closet. No one was in there, or if they were, they were on their break or maybe in the washroom, so I stood guard at the door while Kate sat in the chair in front of all the monitors and screens. She went to type something in, I don't know what –I was complete crap with computers and all that stuff- and jumped as it shocked her slightly. "You okay?" I whispered.

She continued to look down at the keyboard, furrowing her brow. "Fine. That just felt a little… funny."

"If you're fine then hurry up." Tanya whispered, turning on screens. "I want to get out of here before anyone comes back."

So I stood watch at the door, looking down the long dark hallway, and back the way we came. There were no noises even, to suggest that someone was here or on their way back. Just the cliché dripping of some sort of pipe off in the distance that made me roll my eyes. My whole _life_ was a cliché. Honestly.

"Bella…" Tanya murmured. "I think you should come take a look at this…" She trailed off.

Curious and a little apprehensive, I walked over to the two, looking over their shoulders at the screen their eyes were glued to. I stumbled back, shaking my head as I watched it replay over and over.

Me, my long black/blue hair, the white clothes, everything down to the very last detail about me, was running down the hall. The window smashed, and I watched as I skidded to a stop, looking down below, cursing, before looking over my shoulder and then shimmering away. It was all how I remembered it, exactly, except for one screaming detail.

There was no other girl dressed in black in the video.

"No." I murmured, shaking my head and then said it louder, like that would make them believe me. "No! She… She was there!" I pointed to the window. "_She_ smashed the d-damn thing! I swear, I _p-promise_ she was there." Holding my head in my hands, I began to pace. She was there. I _know_ she was. She threw energy balls back at me. She took out the knife. Got me in the eye. She-she was real. "She was there you guys, I wasn't chasing a ghost or my imagination or anything. You have to believe me!"

Tanya and Kate exchanged looks, both smiling at me like I was a frightened little child. That only made me more angry. "Look, Bella," Tanya began in a soothing voice, trying to calm me down. "Maybe you were just a little stressed…"

"No!" I shouted. "I wasn't! I know what I saw and I saw _her_!" I yelled, running a hand through my hair before pulling my hat back on. "M-Maybe it was a spell. You know, to block her from security systems like that. Maybe she's a fugitive and can't afford to be caught on tape."

That seemed to spark a thought in the two and I sighed in relief. I needed them to believe me here. I couldn't go at this alone, clearly, and those two needed to believe me if they were going to help.

The security office door swung open and we froze, relaxing when we saw it was just another regular Witch. She had short red hair that was dyed, looking almost black, with one silver eye, and another gold that kind of reminded me of the Cullens. She smiled, revealing pearly white teeth as she blushed and looked down to her feet. "Sorry, I thought I heard something and came to check it out. I couldn't sleep without knowing what was going on down here." She said, wigging her bunny slipper clad feet. The girl waltzed over to us, skipping and twirling, kind of like Alice, but much sloppier. "What are you looking at?" She asked, coking her head to the side.

"N-Nothing." I replied hastily.

She scooted right up beside me to look over the others' shoulders as well, frowning. "That doesn't look like nothing. That looks like the girl who ran through this building a couple of hours ago." She replied, resting her hand on the back of the chair, her fingers grazing mine.

Clearing my throat, I pulled my hand away, shoving it into my pocket. She glanced up at me, a slight frown on her face but quickly smiled. "So you saw the chase?" I asked.

Her brows furrowed. "Chase? Was someone chasing her? Makes sense I guess, she tore through here with a vengeance, running like crazy. I would be too if someone were chasing me." She said, looking back up at me, batting her eyelashes.

Trying not to show my discomfort, I stepped back, pretending to be deep in thought. "So… you didn't see another girl dressed in black? A big black hood?" I asked.

She bit her lip, shaking her head as she looked away to the wall beside me. "Nope, can't say I did."

I could feel Tanya and Kate's eyes back on me and I knew their heads were full of doubt again. "Thanks." I sighed, looking down to my feet. "You've been a, uh, great help…"

"Alex." She chimed, skipping over to me again, forcing me to back up against the wall. Had she never heard of personal space? "It's short for Alexandria, but I like the sound 'Alex' has."

Nodding while I looked down at her, just now realizing how short she was, I thought of Alice. "Well thank you, Alex."

"And you are?" She asked, smiling up at me.

"Isabella." I murmured, stepping around her and to the others who had turned everything back off.

"Wait!" Alex said, right at my side again. "Do you want to come upstairs for some hot chocolate?" She asked, looking to the others. "All of you, of course."

"No thanks." I replied. I had to get home and figure out what the hell was going on. I didn't just imagine that girl. You can't imagine injuries.

"How about something to eat?" She asked, looking to those two alarmed when they opened the office door. I shook my head, trying to step around her again. "Watch a movie and rest up? It's awfully late."

Pointing to the ring on my finger as I once again managed to step around her, I replied. "We're covered, but thanks."

She bit her lip, looking around wildly trying to think of something. What is _with_ people lately? Everyone wants to talk and hang out and make friends. They haven't a clue about personal bubbles and don't know when to take a hint. "Maybe we could brainstorm about the girl in black?" She asked hesitantly.

"Again; no, and again; thanks anyways." I said firmly, trying to get my point across as I backed into the hall to the other two. Alex took a step forward but I gave her a look and she stopped.

She frowned, glaring at the floor. "You don't like redheads, do you?" She said, crossing her arms. "Fine." With that, she turned on her heel and marched down the dark hallway away from us.

"Did anyone else find that exceptionally creepy?" I asked, turning to the other two.

Kate shrugged. "Happens all the time, usually with boys."

Sighing once again, we walked back down the hall to the stairs. When we passed by the janitors closet I rolled my eyes in annoyance. I really hated it when people just let their things be strewn out all over the place. Just because you rent an apartment doesn't mean the whole building is your house. I was tempted to go find Alex and march her down here to make her clean it up, but I'm not usually one for confrontation.

There was a bunny slipper, matching Alex's perfectly, on it's side outside the dirty, old dented janitor's closet door.

**XXxXXxXX**

"Maybe it was a Terror?" Kate suggested.

Making a face down at my bowl of cereal, I shook my head. "It wasn't a Terror. I wasn't scared, and I could use my affinity." I mumbled back, using my spoon and rearranging letters in the milk.

"Another spell then, maybe?" Tanya asked, sipping from her coffee mug while she sat on her stool at the island.

Again, I shook my head, looking up at her. "I searched Duchess all night. _All_ night. I'm seriously really glad I bought this ring."

Kate bit her lip, looking to me. "I've got a question that's not really related to this." I raised an eyebrow and nodded at her. "How could you see last night? I mean, when we went too? You were wearing goggles and you didn't have any contacts."

"Oh." I replied, smiling. "Some of them are actually prescription lenses in the goggles. I thought it would be neat and come in handy some day. I was right." I grinned. Kate gave me a look and I huffed. "Fine; I was quite bored one day and the random idea popped up in my head. Happy?"

"Very, you geek." She laughed. I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Enough you children, I don't want a food fight started over this." Tanya said with a little smirk of her own.

Kate's pop tarts shot up out of the toaster and she beamed, licking her lips. She placed them on a plate, reaching behind her to pull the toaster's plug out of the wall, jumping again as a little spark flew from the socket to her fingers. "Oh!"

Both Tanya and I were on our feet, over by her in a second. "Are you alright?" Tanya asked, lifting up her hand to look for burns.

There was none. Like none at all, and Tanya's arm hair stood up on ends. I giggle as her eyes widened and she smoothed it down. She was very self conscious of her arm hair, even if it was blonde and hardly noticeable. It was weird, I know.

"Do you keep dragging your feet over carpet lately?" I asked, shaking my head and sat back down at the island.

Kate shook her head. "No, there's no carpeting in the manor."

"Rugs." Tanya put in, not looking up from her arms while she continued to smooth down her arm hair.

Rolling my eyes at Tanya, I paused, before they grew wide. "Wait one damn minute!" I said, holding up my hand. Both of them froze, looking to me. "I read this. I so read this somewhere. In Duchess I think or maybe at that store a couple days ago. Kate, I-I think that's your affinity!"

Kate cocked her head to the side, looking at Tanya's arm. "Static?" She asked skeptically.

"No, you goof. Electricity. Maybe. I'm not sure, but it stands to reason. I slowly grew into my affinity; not being able to sleep because I didn't realized I was sucking energy from you two all the time and kids at school. Maybe this is you growing into yours; getting shocks from electrical appliances and things that have electricity running through them!" I beamed, doing a little twirl of my own. "Honestly, sometimes my superior intellect astounds even myself." I giggled.

"Maybe big head, over there is right." Tanya murmured, walking over to Kate. "Is there any way to check?" She asked, glancing up at me before looking back down to Kate's hand.

Huh. Not that I could recall, no. But maybe if… I frowned at them. "I have an idea, but I don't think it's very safe." I murmured. They looked at me expectantly. "Alright well here it is; I could make a big ball of energy, pack it real tight, and hold it between your hands. It'll spark, depending on how tight I pack it and how much energy I layer on, and if I'm right; the spark will… um, do something?"

"A real genius." Tanya muttered. I glared at her.

"How's it unsafe?" Kate asked, looking at my hands wearily.

"If it works; either I'm going to get shocked or you're going to get hit by a tightly packed energy ball." I replied, like I was stating the weather outside.

Kate looked up at me like I was insane. I wouldn't put it past me at this point. "Easy peasy, right?" She said sarcastically.

"Quit yer belly achin' and put up em' dukes of yers." I said in the best hick voice I could muster. Again, the two looked at me like I was a loon. Huffing, I grabbed her hands, holding them up and then put mine up, palms facing each other.

The air between my hands rippled and then I started maneuvering my hands in the motion of packing a ball, actually feeling the weight of the energy. The tighter and more I packed, the more golden and white light would spark and flicker, and soon I had a big flashing ball hovering in-between my hands.

Biting my lip, I looked up to Kate, concentrating on keeping the ball between my hands and not letting it fly off anywhere. "Alright, hold your hands over and under it, and I'll hold it on the sides."

Kate's shaking hands hesitantly came up, pausing before getting close to the ball, her right hand up top with her palm facing the ball, and her left below, with her palm facing the ball. "Now what?" She asked when nothing else happened.

Well crap, there goes my plan…hold on. "Try touching it." I said and her face whipped up to look at me. "It won't hurt you as long as you don't break it. Don't poke it, but put your hands _on_ it like you're going to hold it."

Kate gulped before slowly doing so. Her face split into a grin as she actually felt the energy, laughing joyously.

That's when the sparks and flashing started turning blue. "Oh." I yelped a little, jolting. That kind of stung. "Ah!" I grimaced. The flashing sped up, getting even brighter and bluer. "Ouch!" I nearly jumped in the air. That freaking hurt!

"What's happening?" Kate asked, looking at me with concern.

I shook my head. "Nothing, keep going!" I shouted, trying to be heard over the cackling of the ball. It sounded like little snaps, the sound you hear when your hair is all statically and you run your hands through it. "You've got it now; I'm going to just slip my hands off and let go-"

"No!" Kate gasped, looking at me with wide eyes as she let go of the ball to grab my wrist.

The moment her skin touched mine I froze, feeling the shock run through my body all the way to my fingers and toes. A strangled noise escaped my throat and Kate quickly pulled her hand back. Without the electrical current running through me and holding me up, I collapsed on the floor of the kitchen. The energy ball, with electricity running through it, shot off and exploded a cupboard, letting cereal and whatever else was in there rain down onto the counter.

Staring unblinking at the side of the island counter, because even blinking hurt at the moment, I slowly exhaled, wincing slightly.

"Bella! I'm so, so, so, sorry!" Kate was gasping and blubbering. She was almost having a panic attack over it, her breathing off and jagged while she sobbed.

Tanya was kneeling on the ground in front of me, looking me over with worried eyes. "Bella, can you move?" She asked, trying to keep calm.

"N-Ahh!" I cried out when I went to wiggle the fingers of the hand Kate had grabbed.

"Okay, that's not good. Don't move." Tanya said, biting her lip. "Kate you need to pull yourself together, Bella you stay put, and I'm going to go get the car out of the garage." She raced off and I heard the front door open but not close.

"Bella, I really didn't mean to. I just, I was scared that the thing would hurt me if you let go. I'm so sorry. And so stupid, I should have just trusted you; you always know what you're talking about. _Especially_ with this Wiccan crap." She slapped her forehead. "I'm so sorry."

"I-" I grimaced, licking my lips. It was getting better though. I wasn't in so much pain anymore. Just my hands and wrist where she touched me. "I don't always know." My voice cracked and I realized how dry my throat was. I felt like a cartoon character whose voice gets all rough and everything after they've been electrocuted. "All of this was just a guess."

Kate smiled a watery smile at me. "Still, your guess is always the one to go by. I'm so sorry, Bella." She said, taking my hand. My eyes bulged as a high pitched noise cracked through the back of my throat. She immediately let go. "Damn; I keep doing that! I'm so sorry!" She said again.

Tanya came running back in. "We're getting you to the hospital. Kate, grab her feet, I'll get her shoulders."

Scooting away from her hands, I glared. "I can _walk_. It's just my hands."

"Don't be a hero, Bella; you were just electrocuted." Tanya replied, going to grab my shoulders again.

"Seriously." I growled. She was smothering me with affection right now and I couldn't handle it. "I can walk, just help me up."

They did, Tanya keeping her hands on me until I was in the car with Kate in the back who had her hands shoved into her pockets. Then Tanya raced around to the other side of the car and peeled out of the driveway like a bat out of hell. I would have grabbed onto the door or anything at that point, had my hands not hurt so bad. "Slow down!" Kate yelled as we blew through a stop sign.

"There's no time!" She screamed back, her eyes wide as she looked out the front windshield. "What if there's internal bleeding that we just can't see?"

"From being electrocuted?" I scoffed.

Tanya's wide eyes were on me next. "What if something's wrong in you now? Mom would kick my ass if she knew I did nothing about this!"

Kate and I exchanged looks at the little outburst of Tanya's who didn't even seem to notice she had said anything.

She screeched to a stop in front of the hospital, whipping her door open to run around to my side. I stepped out quickly before she could reach in a yank me out, and Kate did so as well, both of us keeping our distance from Tanya. She was a little wound up.

Carlisle was there when we walked up to the front desk. He seemed surprised, smiling at us as he walked over. "Hello girls, shouldn't you be at school?" He asked, glancing at the watch around his pale wrist. "Class starts in just a few minutes."

"Bella was shocked!" Tanya yelled, gaining everyone's attention. Nurses, secretaries, doctors, patients checking in and out, and people waiting for news. They all looked over to us and I felt my cheeks redden. "Show him!" She said, turning to me.

Stepping a little farther away from crazy, I nervously glanced up into the kind golden eyes of Carlisle who smiled at me, waiting to look. I lifted my hands, palms up and his eyes widened. "Whoa!" I said, getting a closer look. "That's kind of cool!"

Carlisle covered up his chuckle with a cough and put on a serious face. "We should get this looked at though; they're not regular burns."

My palms and wrist was red, but within that, looking like little bolts of lightning and squiggles, were pale burn marks. Even more pale than my regular skin. The ones on my wrist were long and reached half way to my elbow. I looked back at Kate, wanting her to check this out because I kind of felt like Harry Potter, only a female, less cool version. She had her head ducked though, a frown on her face looking guilty as hell.

Carlisle ushered me into a room before I could try and comfort her though. I sat down on the hospital bed/desk thing, the one you always use when going for checkups that has the drawers that pull out if you're really tall to lay your legs on, swinging my own legs back and forth as Carlisle treated my burns.

His golden yes glanced up to me before he looked back down at my hands. "May I ask how you got these burns?" He asked.

Uh oh. "Um, yeah. My r-radio was acting all…w-whacky. I'm not so good with technology and stuff, so I just, uh, smacked the side of it, h-hoping to get it to work like that. Instead I was b-burnt." I replied. I was never a good liar, mostly because I got so nervous about them believing me, that I would start to stutter. And anyone who knew me and knew that about me, would know I was lying. It really sucked big time.

Carlisle hummed after looking at me for a few seconds. He reached to the counter beside him and started to wrap my hands in gauze. "This is for until they have a chance to heal somewhat. A day, day and a half maybe. The burns aren't deep, just on the very top surface of skin."

"Will they be permanent? Like Freddy?" I asked, leaning forward anxiously.

"Freddy?" He asked.

"Krueger!" I explained.

His brows furrowed before recognition flashed in his eyes. "Ah, I seem to remember that from one of Emmett's movie marathon nights. It's hard to tell at this point, it depends on how you heal; but they won't mutate into anything like that; if they're permanent, they'll look like this. Cool; as you put it."

Smiling sheepishly, I fought back a blush. "Okay."

Carlisle got to his feet, sighing and running a hand through his blonde hair. He started to clean and tidy everything up. "So I heard the news when I got home last night." He said and I froze.

"Wh-Wh-Wh-What news?" I asked, almost not getting it out.

Carlisle gave me a look over his shoulder, his eyes amused.

"Oh. Th-That news." I mumbled. "And?" I asked nervously.

He turned to face me, looking at me like he didn't understand how I couldn't already know the answer. "And I couldn't be happier for the two of you."

"Really?" I asked, shocked.

He nodded with a kind smile. "Yes, you both deserve someone wonderful, and you're both perfect for each other." He replied.

"_Really?"_

Carlisle chuckled. "Yes, you're almost complete opposites. You c-"

"Complete each other?" I asked. He chuckled again and nodded. "So _that's_ where she gets it from." I murmured to myself.

Carlisle grinned. "I'll admit; I'm an old romantic." He said. His face became serious again as he leaned back against a counter. "Now, I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or awkward and I apologize in advance for that, but we need to have a little talk."

"A-About?" I asked, though I already knew where this conversation was going.

"Alice." He answered.

We stared at each other for a long while after that; me because I didn't know what else to do and I was trying to not get a nose bleed from all the blood rushing to my head, and him, well, he looked like he was searching for something. "She's very important to me; I love her like she is my own daughter."

I nodded. "I understand. She's really hard not to l…care for." I replied.

He nodded as well, still searching for whatever it was that he was looking for. "It's been a long time, a very long time, since she's shown interest in anyone. For a while there, Esme and I were really concerned." Again, I nodded; not knowing what else to do. "And then you showed up. She's had feelings for you since the second she laid eyes on you apparently,"

"I don't think you're supposed to tell me that." I cut in quickly. He faltered, frowning as his brows furrowed when he realized that, indeed, he was not supposed to tell me that. "Don't worry; I won't tell her you told me."

He smiled gratefully at me. "Thank you. Well, my point here is that this isn't just some…fling for her, Bella. Her feelings are true and genuine, and I just don't want to see her get attached and then hurt if this is just some experimenting for yo-"

Once more, I cut him off, unable to stop myself. "I may do a lot of experimenting; it's one of my hobbies, but I would _never_ do that with someone's feelings." I looked at him seriously and could see his eyes light up like he found what he was looking for. "And I can assure you, whatever it is I…f-feel for Alice is true and genuine too. I'm a little rusty in the emotion department, and I'm probably going to screw up a lot, but I'm not going to let that get in the way of making Alice happy, because that's all I want." I finished.

Carlisle nodded for a final time, standing up straight and smiled at me. "That's all I was looking for." He said, patting my shoulder lightly. "Now, you run along to your sisters and make sure Tanya calms down and slows her pulse or she might pass out." He chuckled.

"Alright." I said, hopping down from the bed/table thing. "Crap," I muttered, continuing at his raised eyebrow. "I'm not going to be able to ride my bike tonight. I left it at your house."

"I could always send someone over with it." He replied, holding the door open for me.

"How'd they get back?"

"I'll send two kids." He smiled.

"Or, you know, you could all come over." I said, wanting to see Alice tonight still. "Esme hasn't seen inside the manor yet and stuff."

Carlisle smiled again. "What time?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I fiddled with the gauze on my hands. "Supper?"

"Perhaps after. We've got a special diet; gluten free, and it would be easier on you girls if we just ate before we came over." He said with a small frown. I nodded, waving over my shoulder to him as I walked back to my sisters.

**xxXxxXxx**

"Okay, how long do we have?" Tanya asked, running her hands through her hair as she looked around the living room. There were blankets and pillows scattered about the furniture, and said furniture was all angled towards the TV instead of how it should be. There was remotes laying about, books, nail polish and brushes all over. In the kitchen there were dishes to be done, spills to be cleaned up, and the whole cupboard thing still. Our rooms were messy, or at least mine was; the blankets all tangled up, clothes flowing from drawers, books and papers scattered about up there. Who knew what else. The whole house needed a good cleaning, really.

"Uh. I said like six o'clock." I replied, glancing to the grandfather clock up against a wall of the living room. "So, four hours."

"Four hours?" Kate yelled, whirling on me.

Pointing a finger of a bandaged hand at Tanya, I stomped my foot, not willing to take the blame for this. "_She_ was the one who wanted to eat out for lunch!"

Tanya whirled on Kate. "_You_ wanted desert."

The two started going back and farther, bickering at each other, getting louder and louder. "Alright alright, shut up!" I shouted and they fell quiet. "Thank you." I flashed them a smile. "The grocery shopping is what took longest here, so if anyone is to blame it's the market."

They seemed to be pleased with this alternate thing to put the blame on. "Why did we even have to stop by there? It's not like they're eating here, what with their gluten free diet, or whatever it was." I said, frowning. That kind of diet would totally suck. It'd probably suck more if I knew what gluten was.

Tanya shrugged, walking to the kitchen. "We needed groceries anyways. We were down to cereal and canned goods for sustenance here at the manor." Both Tanya and I shuddered when we looked in the cupboard that held the canned goods and Kate's ravioli that she loved. Kate stuck her tongue out at us, crossing her arms. "Okay, anyway, we need to get started. Um, Bella, since you don't have use of your hands really, you can stick to…er… tidying things up rather than cleaning."

Kate huffed when I grinned over at her.

"And Kate, you can do the living room and upstairs bathrooms. I'll get the kitchen and downstairs bathrooms, and then we can all move onto our rooms. Got it?"

"Got it." Kate and I replied in unison.

It was around six o'clock by the time we had finished and we were all flopped on the couch, resting. We had eaten supper while cleaning, stopping into the kitchen to munch, before heading off to continue. The house was spotless, everything in it's rightful place and put away. There was not a lick of dust anywhere, not a crooked cushion, other than what we were sitting on. And most importantly, all Wiccan items were up in the attic, locked behind the door. Hopefully Esme wouldn't ask to see in there, because we still hadn't come up with an excuse not to.

Tanya got all dolled up, a short red dress; playful and fancy at the same time. Kate was wearing a light V neck sweater and a black skirt. I wore black dress pants and a white blouse with a black vest, all untucked and just thrown on. I was being lazy, not wanting to tuck and crease and be all tidy myself. "I feel like a boxer." I muttered, looking at my bandaged hands. One hand was wrapped around and around and around all the way up my wrist and nearly to my elbow for the burns there, while the rest of it and the other hand, were all wrapped up, in-between my fingers and thumbs so I could still use them.

"Well you don't look like one." Tanya replied absently.

Frowning, I slumped back farther into the couch.

Only to jump back up when the bell rang.

**XXxXXxXX**

**I was going to keep going for the whole evening at the manor, but then I realized how long this was, and got lazy. ^^ So this is all you get for today.**

**Review anyways. And I hope you all read carefully; there are hidden, er, well I can't tell you, but I still hope you read carefully.**

**Annnnd. If anyone got the reference (1) there, you get brownie points. **

**-Paige.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

Tanya opened the door and the smile on my face fell. No one was there. Just the front step and porch, then the walkway to the driveway, the yard on the other side of the driveway, then the forest at the yard's edge. Nothing was there at all. Tanya huffed, stepping out onto the porch to have a look around, see if she could spot any giggling adolescents running away, in case this was some sort of game.

There were no giggling kids.

"I could have sworn I heard someone knock." Tanya muttered, walking back into the house and closing the door behind her. "Didn't you hear it?" She asked.

Nodding, I frowned. "Yes. I wasted a perfectly good jump up now. I won't do it again next time; I'll take my time pulling myself to my feet." I harrumphed, crossing my arms over my chest. "Did you not hear it too?" I asked Kate.

Only, when I turned to look at her, she was sitting on the couch frozen. She was even more pale than usual, her green and brown eyes wide. Her breathing was shallow, very shallow and quick, like she was trying not to breathe at all.

"Kate…?" Tanya asked, walking back over to the couch with me as we watched our sister. "Kate, are you okay?"

Kate's eyes flickered up to us, full of panic and terror.

…Terror.

"Son of a bitch!" Tanya and I cursed at the same time. "Alright, we can deal with this. Her worst fear…uh… spiders, right?" I asked, looking to Tanya.

She nodded absently. "Yeah. How do we make her think it's not real, though? Spiders _are_ real."

Good point. Okay; think. Hm. Think. "What if we squish the spiders then?" I asked curiously, looking back to Kate who didn't even have her eyes open anymore. "Would that help her?"

Tanya shrugged, looking around. "It's worth a shot, but I can't see them."

"I've got an idea. You go keep a look out though in case everyone shows up and we're not done yet." Tanya nodded and went to the front door, opening it up and leaning against the frame. I turned back to Kate, trying to rearrange words into an incantation, making sure they rhymed just for that extra boost. I wasn't so good with creating them, so rhyming was a sure way to make sure it worked. Kate, who _could_ create them from the top of her head, didn't even have to throw in rhymes anymore. Alas, she was the one who needed it now though. "Okay, uh… _In this tween time, this darkest hour, I call upon the sacred power. Here on this floor I stand alone, and command the unseen to be shown. In innocence I search the skies, enchanted are my newfound eyes."_

Tanya snorted from the door. "Nice one Dr. Seuss; 'darkest hour' and 'In innocence I search the skies'?" She scoffed. "Even _I_ could have come up with something better than that."

But I couldn't answer. I was too busy internally screaming my lungs out as I, too, froze completely still.

Spiders.

Not just a few spiders here or there in the corner of the room. Everywhere. _Everywhere._ Crawling on the walls, the ceiling, the floor, the TV, tables, chairs, couches. Even up my legs, which is why I hadn't ran screaming from the room yet. Kate was covered in them and I understood now why she was hardly breathing and not moving or even had her eyes open. Let me tell you, these weren't any ordinary spiders you'd find in your house either. These were damn african jungle, jurassic era spiders. Some of them the size of my head nearly, and they were all kinds. Black, white, black and white, black and red, all colours and all sizes and all species.

"Bella?" Tanya called when I had no witty remark. "Do… do you need a broom?" She asked.

My eyes flickered up to her, seeing the spiders crawling up her legs. I'm fairly sure I squeaked.

"Seriously, Bella. Talk to me here. Tell me what's happening." She said, getting down to business. "What's wrong?"

Gulping, I glanced down at my legs, the spiders now up to my waist and still crawling. I grimaced. "S-S-Sp-S-Sp-" I couldn't even say it.

"Spiders…?" She asked, waving her hands around, trying to get me to elaborate.

"Ev-Ev-Every…Every…wh-wh…ev-very."

"Everywhere…" She continued, furrowing her brows.

"Big." I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut. I couldn't look at them anymore. They were hairy and crawling and twitching and drooling but since spiders don't drool that was probably venom which meant that some were poisonous and oh my gosh.

"Gah!" I yelped, my head turned to the side as I squeezed my eyes close. My cheek stung like a mother and I glared at Tanya who was in front of my with her hand raised up still. "Why the _hell_ did you slap me?" I cried.

"That's why. To get you to function. Now, yeah, spiders are creepy and scary but they're a hundred times worse for Kate who needs your help right now!" She yelled, pointing to Kate who had silent tears running down her cheek.

Crap. Right.

Seeing Kate crying got me jump started and over my little fear. I hadn't seen her cry since the funerals and I just couldn't handle it.

So, with that in mind, I clenched my jaw and stomped over to the couch again, smushing as many of those crawlies I could. It wasn't as easy as it sounds either, 'cause some of those suckers where big and it felt like crushing hands and small cats. Great, now I had that picture in my head. I felt like a freaking monster, I can't believe I compared that to crushing little cats. "Bella focus!" Tanya said, standing by the front door again.

Right.

Since everything was covered with spiders at that point, which reminded me of myself so I jumped up and down a few times, gagging as the spiders fell and pooled around my feet, and had to start picking them off of Kate. I silently screamed in the back of my throat with each spider I had to pick up in my fingers and drop on the floor, but soon there was a big enough space to place my hand on and sweep them off her in one quick movement. I pulled her to her feet and started brushing the rest off of her, stomping on them as they landed on the ground. "Tanya, there's too much to squish!" I yelled, watching more and more crawl in from other rooms of the house and the open windows.

Kate was staring at me with wide eyes that were red and puffy from crying. "Help." She whispered, clinging desperately to me and looking around and around at all the spiders. She began to hyperventilate, her face getting red.

"Tanya!" I cried, still stomping on the spiders.

"Let me think!" She said, grabbing her head and started pacing. "Uh… you could, you could try taking her outside."

Looking out the window, I shook my head furiously. "That's where they're coming from."

"Attic." Kate mumbled against my shoulder.

Yes! The attic! "You're a genius!" I sang. The attic had crystals placed in all the corners, protecting the room from spells and evil and ghosts and such. Not that ghosts were common or could really hurt you, but they were freaky to look at; all transparent and dead looking. "Okay, to the attic, just follow me to the stairs…come on, Kate… you can do it…" I said, trying to pull her along with me.

She was frozen though, looking at all the spiders crawling down the stairs and the railing and walls. She wouldn't budge, and I wasn't sure if it was because she didn't want to or because she couldn't.

Huffing and grimacing against the pain in my hands, I hauled her onto my back, piggyback style. "Jeeze, what have you been eating; bricks?" I got a good grip on her and then went for the stairs, stepping on and squashing all the little spiders I could. I paused at the stairs, looking to the wall beside them at the exceptionally large, rain forest dwelling looking spider on it that I'd have to pass. "C-C-Close your eyes, Kate." I whispered.

With a final breath, I surged forward, racing up the stairs as fast as I could. I suddenly hated the fact that the attic was on the very top floor and the living room was on the ground floor. At least we hadn't been in the basement.

I was gasping and panting and sweating by the time we got to the top; my hands felt like they were burning again, and my back was going to give soon, but at least there were no more stairs.

Yeah, no more stairs, only a giant spider up in the corner of the hall right in front of the attic door. No big deal…

"How in the hell are we supposed to get by that?" I complained, shifting from foot to foot in the middle of the hallway.

"Bella, hurry!" Kate cried, looking down the stairs behind us at the mass amount of spiders following us. Big ones like the one in the corner were there as well and I jumped a little.

Raising my hand back behind my head, I hurled a flashing, sparking ball of energy at the spider in the corner and ran after it with Kate's hand in mine, pulling her along. The spider exploded, showering us with guck, and the wall had a big hole in it like someone had thrown a bowling ball through it, but at least the spider was dead. We smashed through the attic door, landing on the floor on the other side, panting.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow…" My hands were throbbing in time with my pulse.

"It worked!" Kate gasped, looking back out the broken door of the attic.

"Lovely." I grumbled, turning onto my back. "Oh gosh do I hate spiders."

And then I was wrapped up in Kate's arms in a big hug. "You saved me, Bella, !" She cried.

**'Guys, they're here! Get back downstairs!'** Tanya said through the link.

"Crap; we need to change out of these guck covered…clothes…from… oh." I mumbled, looking down at myself.

"It's not actually real; remember?" Kate said, helping me to my feet. "But you _could_ use some straightening out. Tuck in your shirt and button up the vest, don't want to look like a slob, do you?" She said, smoothing out any wrinkles in her own shirt and skirt. For someone who was just in a state of complete terror, she sure got over it quickly. I glared at her.

Grudgingly tucking in the white blouse and buttoning up the black vest, I followed Kate back down the stairs, cleaning my glasses on my sleeve. I glanced at my hands again, not sure if I liked the look of the bandages that kind of looked like fingerless gloves from far away, or if I didn't like them. That started getting me wondering if they had coloured bandages, like black and stuff. Although, why would they? It's not like this was a fashion statement, they were what they were. Bandages for wounds.

"Good evening, girls." Carlisle said from the living room as we entered. I was suddenly glad I hadn't just thrown on anything, though even my anything was kind of fancy, because they were all semi formal too. Carlisle smiled, getting to his feet to come take a look at the bandages and frowned. "Have you been using your hands since you left the hospital?" He asked.

"Bella was at the hospital?" Alice's face whipped up to look at us as she darted over from the couch to look. "What happened?" She asked, gently taking my hands in hers.

Looking from Carlisle to Alice and back again, I tried to remember the story I told him. I think it had something to do with appliances or something. "Oh, well I…uh, the t-toaster…" Alice's big golden eyes were full of concern as she looked up at me, waiting for an explanation. I don't think I could lie to her.

_'Guys, I don't think I can lie to her!'_ I repeated to them, starting to panic.

_**'You can't tell the truth, you **__**have**__** to lie, Bella! They can't know… if they know they might leave… they'll freak out. You have to lie, please. **__**Please!**_' Kate said, clinging to Jasper's arm like he was about to walk out of her life forever. He frowned, looking at her curiously and held onto her free hand, smiling reassuringly at her. How odd…

"Bella?" Alice prodded.

"Oh, right. Um, there was the toaster and the pop tarts were done so I…" I bit my lip, trying to force out the lie. "I… I mean, Kate, went and pulled the cord from the plug in and a spark flew off at her. She wasn't burnt or anything when we went to go check on her, but when she touched my skin, I _was_. It was a real freak accident." I said, not lying but not including _everything_ that happened in between. I glanced at those two, seeing them sigh in relief and smile gratefully at me. "I'm okay though." I said.

Alice kissed each palm, making me blush, before she reached up to cup my cheeks and place a soft kiss on my lips.

Right in front of every-damn-one. My face was as red as a clown's nose by then, I was sure.

Esme, coming to my rescue, looked around the room. "My suspicions were correct; the inside is even more beautiful than the outside. I simply love the old designs." She said, looking around at all the details, fascinated. "This house must be so old. I don't remember it though…" She murmured and I felt Alice stiffen beside me as she and Carlisle looked to Esme who seemed frozen for a second. What was _that_ about…?

Tanya nodded. "Sort of. It's an exact replica of the original Swan manor back in Italy, which is _really_ old. Charlie wanted it the exact same, right down to the little details."

This time it was Kate and I who looked at Tanya as she mentioned our father's name out loud so close to the anniversary. She glanced back at the two of us, though no looks were exchanged.

Alice looked up at me curiously. "Charlie?" She asked.

Shrugging off the question, I shoved my hands into my pockets. "Bella." Kate warned in a low voice. _**'Don't shut her out.'**_ "He was our father." She said, smiling at Alice who looked worried, like she offended me or something.

"Oh. _Oh._" She said, covering her mouth as she looked back up at me. "I'm sorry."

"'S fine." I mumbled, shrugging my shoulders again.

There was an awkward silence around the living room, no one knowing what to say and I felt like kicking myself. Or Tanya. She was the one who brought him up.

Kate cleared her throat. "Alright, so, does anyone want anything? Coffee? Tea? Water?"

"Juice, milk, pop." Tanya continued with a snicker. "We've got it all." She looked over to me.

"What? I thought we might as well pick it all up so we don't have to run back out to the market during the week! Who wants to make special shopping trips for certain things all the time?" I scoffed.

The Cullens looked to Alice who beamed up at me when I raised an eyebrow at her. "That would be me." She paused, grinning wider. "And now you too."

"What?" I asked. How is that now me too? "How do you figure?"

She rolled her eyes while Edward chuckled across the room. "Becaaause. Now that we're together, I don't have to go alone; I can drag you along with me."

"That's some awfully fine print." I muttered with a smirk at her. She stuck her tongue out at me, crossing her arms. "Oh, I should probably warn you just so you don't freak out later." I said, thinking of something.

"About?" She asked.

Whistling a long, low whistle, I watched her eyes widen as Kiki swooped in, landing on my shoulder. "Kiki, here. Just didn't want you freaking out if you spotted a bird randomly flying about."

"Wicked." Emmett breathed, looking about the manor. "This place is already cooler than ours. Can we get a bird?" He asked, turning to Esme with hopeful eyes who looked at him like he was crazy. He pouted, looking down at his feet. "But _they_ got a birdie…"

He was such a child sometimes. I really loved that about Emmett. "I know what'll cheer you up. Why don't you go and try to find all the trap doors and secret halls and rooms behind paintings." Kate said, thinking along the same lines as me.

Emmett's eyes widened. "Seriously? Your parents were so cool." He said, jumping to his feet and grabbing Rosalie's hand. "Come on, Rosie."

"Just not the attic." I said quickly.

"Yeah." Tanya agreed. "It's locked and dusty and gross and it'd be better if you just avoided it altogether. Nothing up there to have fun with."

_'Over doing it.'_ I quickly told her, trying to shut her up as Jasper and Carlisle looked at her curiously.

"Alright, well, on with the tour." Kate said, getting to her feet with Jasper's hand in hers.

**xxXxxXxxXxx**

Mannerisms were always the hardest. The appearance was the easiest. She had been doing it since she could walk, and all these years later it came as easily as breathing did. Sure, it was painful. Her muscles and tissue ripping and reforming, her bones growing or shrinking. But the beset things in life were painful. Besides, it only lasted a few seconds, and for those few seconds, she would think of things to distract herself. It wasn't so bad then. Not pleasant, not in the slightest bit, but at least it was bearable.

Mannerisms were what got her. What's the point of having someone's face if you can't also put their personality behind it? It would fool no one, at least not anyone that knew the face. She had learnt that the hard way and had the scars to show for it.

So she would watch them. Day and night, watch them. Study them. How they would walk and talk with their friends and family, their coworkers. She would study what kinds of things they'd say. Their facial expressions. The type of humour they had. It was a very tedious job, but well worth it. It certainly got the job done.

She used to think that was what she liked the most. Fooling everyone into believing her. Having the chance to be anyone she wanted to be. To not have to be scared that someone wouldn't like her, anything about her. To be able to change it.

Not anymore. She wanted to be herself and she wanted someone to love her for _her_. Not just anyone either. A specific someone. A specific someone who is so oblivious it's almost painful to be around them. But she could wait. If there was anything she would always be, no matter whose face she wore, it was patient. And in the meantime, it's not like she couldn't have a little fun with them. Try to show them their options. Try and clue them in.

Because one way or another, they _would_ love her. And you know what they say; love hurts.

She grinned in the mirror to her reflection, grimacing and gasping as she backed up into the door of a stall. The bathroom was empty save for her, and the door to it was locked for a little privacy. It wasn't the fanciest bathroom she had ever been in, but it also wasn't the worst. All the stalls had their doors, if scribbled and spray painted all over. All marked up. The walls, though carved in and written on, had no holes in them, no… unknown substances on them. The mirrors, smudged an dirty, were at least undamaged and had no cracks to distort one's image in.

Though her image was distorted. She whimpered quietly to herself, gripping the door of the stall as she clenched her teeth that she felt getting more round, rather than pointy like her own. She fell back to the floor, counting in her head until her bones stopped growing, trying desperately to think of something to take her mind off of her body's shifting.

When it was done, she rested on the floor of the bathroom for a few seconds. She breathed in and out of her mouth a couple of times and then pulled herself to her feet, grabbing the black duffle bag from the ground and set it on the counter beside the mirror. One green eye and one blue eye blinked back at her, and she flashed herself a smile.

Inside the bag were red heels and a red spaghetti strap club dress. She quickly changed, stuffing the black thigh high boots, the black shorts, the black blouse, and the black hooded cape all into the bag. Running a brush through the long strawberry blonde hair with red splashes in it, she looked over her appearance. She smiled, looking down at herself as she smoothed out the dress and then paused.

Plain old nails just wouldn't do for this body and face. She bit her lip, watching them grow and turn red to match the dress, before looking in the mirror, doing the same for her lips. Big, plump, and red.

With that, she turned on her heel, slid the bag into one of the stalls under the toilet, and strode out of the bathroom.

The music was thundering, you could feel it run through your body, feel it in your heart. Hell, you could barely think over it, but that was fine. She wasn't in the mood for thinking. She was here to study faces. Looking for someone who would catch eyes. Who would catch her someone's eye for sure. A face and body her someone _couldn't_ ignore. _Couldn't_ be oblivious to.

And she saw her, sitting up at the bar.

The girl had to be from the reservation just outside of Forks. She was tall, with legs that went on and on, dark skin matching her darker eyes that held a sense of dangerousness and wildness in them, long, thick black hair, looking silky to the touch. Pearly white teeth that flashed in a feral grin as she approached the tall girl at the bar. She flashed her own smile, red lips curling back over bright teeth. The girl must have been an athlete as well, or did _something_, because there wasn't an inch of her that looked squishy.

Sitting on the stool next to the girl, she flashed another smile. "Hi." She said.

"Hi yourself." The other girl replied.

"What's your name?" she asked over the roar of the music and drunken laughter.

The girl looked at her for a second, trying to deduce if she should say or not. With a shrug, she answered. "I'm Leah."

The girl grinned. "What a coincidence. So am I."

Leah felt a chill run down her spine. She no longer liked this innocent looking girl's presence. "Huh. That's weird, eh?"

The girl's grin never fell as she replied. "You have no idea."

**XXxXXxXX**

"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?" I asked, trying not to laugh as I watched Kate play around with hand gestures. I had just woken up and gotten out of the shower, and I _was_ going to call Alice, until I heard Kate cursing up a storm in the attic. I wandered in here to find her just like this, looking a little stressed out. I assumed she was trying to do something with her affinity.

Kate groaned, falling to her knees as she gripped her hair. "Why? _Why_ can't I do anything now?" She glared at the wooden floor beside her. "They should have an instruction manual for this kind of thing."

Taking a closer look at Kate, I realized that she must have been up all night after everyone had gone to bed. Her hair was a mess, like she had been running frustrated hands through it all night, and funnily enough was also static-y. Her brown and green eyes had light purple bags underneath them. Her clothes were all wrinkled and from the previous night as well. "Well, you know, it's different for everyone. I'm sure you'll find a way to do it yourself. Have you slept, like… at all?" I asked.

Kate ran her hands through her hair again and I know for sure I wasn't seeing anything when another light blue spark flew between her fingers. I had fixed my glasses, and therefore no one could blame anything on me not seeing it properly. "Um, no." She smiled sheepishly. "I was thinking you could help with that." She made wild gestures to my ring with her hands. I cringed, waiting for a zap, but luckily there was none.

"Perhaps waving your hands around isn't the best idea." I mumbled.

"Why? It's not like anything is going to happen because apparently this stupid affinity is picky about how its used." Kate snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. I felt the hair on my arms rise, and the static in my own hair.

Oh. I get it now.

"Kate, I think your affinity is tied to your emotions." I told her.

She beamed, looking hopeful. "Is yours?"

"Well, er, no. But I'm not very emotional." I replied.

"_I'm_ not emotional!" She cried and the light of the attic flickered. "What are you trying to say? That I'm sensitive? I'm not, I tell you; you're just a robot!"

No sleep and Kate do _not_ go together.

Shaking my head furiously, I tried to diffuse the situation before I got shocked again. "I'm not saying that at all. I just think that's how it is; a lot of people have said that in Duchess."

"Why isn't it for you?" She pouted.

"As you kindly put it;" I sarcastically replied. "I'm a robot."

Kate sighed, flopping back onto one of the old sofas up here. "I'm sorry. It's just, this was the first time in years that I was finally glad I wasn't like everyone else. That I _didn't_ want to be normal, because this affinity and power stuff is kind of cool. Then I come up here and find out I can't even do _that_ right, when it's supposed to be mine; supposed to come to me naturally."

"These things take time and practice, Kate." I told her, sitting down on the sofa next to her. "You can't just figure out you've got an affinity and automatically know how to use it."

"You did." She muttered, bringing her feet up on the couch and hugging her knees to her chest.

Snorting, I patted her shoulder. "Do you not remember the new TV I had to buy to replace the old one? It took me a week to figure out how to aim, how to fiddle around with it. Do you know how weak the levels of energy were in what I was tossing around for those seven days? They were pathetic."

A slow, hesitant smile pulled at her lips. "You think I'll figure it out soon then?" She asked.

"I'm _sure_ you will." I nodded. "You just have to hang in there and control your feelings, because when the time comes; _you'll_ have to help Tanya with her own affinity." I giggled, jumping up off the couch.

"What!" Kate exclaimed, scrambling to her own feet. "But she's even more emotional than _I_ am!"

"Well this robot can't do emotions so it's on you!" I cackled, running down the stairs. The lights of the manor flickered again and I had to hold in a giggle as I raced into the kitchen.

"Where's the fire, Bella." Tanya said, slowing me down. "And where's your sister; we've got to leave soon." She huffed, turning when her toast popped. She went to each for it but paused, eyeing the toaster wearily before quickly tapping her toast. I rolled my eyes, walking over and pulled out the corn of the toaster for her.

Sitting down at the island, I popped in a hash brown into my mouth. "Oooh!" Only to spit it back out and chug my milk. Tanya raised her eyebrows at me when I glared at her, grumbling under my breath. "I am so _sick_ of getting burnt. Did you light these on fire or something?" I snapped.

She furrowed her brows, looking down at her own plate and had a hash brown, looking up at me curiously. "It's hot, but not burning hot. Don't be such a wuss, Bella."

"Not all of us can have leathery man mouths." I muttered under my breath, smirking when she gasped and pulled a small mirror out of her purse.

"I do _not_ have a man mouth. Nor is it leathery!" She said, studying her mouth in the mirror.

"What'd you say now?" Kate snickered, sitting down next to me. I shrugged my shoulders innocently. "Tanya, nothing is wrong with your mouth; just eat – ow!" She yelped, waving her hand at her tongue. "What the hell, are you trying to melt me from the inside out?" She shrieked.

Tanya huffed, stabbing her fork through a hash brown on both mine and Kate's plate and shoved them into her mouth. Her eyes widened a little and she gulped down a glass of water after. "Alright, I'll admit that was a little warm, but you two are being babies. It wasn't that bad."

Kate and I glowered down at our plates as we blew on them.

"So," Kate said after a few minutes. "How's your search for the girl in black going?" She asked.

Those two had stopped helping me search for her. They said it was because it'd be best to wait for her to come to us. I knew the real reason was because they thought I made her up or was seeing things or something. I wasn't though. I know I wasn't. You can't just make all that up in your head. And you'd think they'd be more willing to help me now that Kate was sent a Terror as well. Clearly _someone_ was trying to get our attention.

"Slow." I bit back.

Those two sighed. Tanya rubbed her forehead. "Look, have you tried that spell I suggested last night?" She asked.

I shook my head. "I can't summon her because one; she's not a lost Witch, two; we don't even know if she _is_ a Witch - she could be a Warlock, and three; we don't know her name or anything about her specific enough for the spell."

Kate looked at me and then Tanya. "I suppose we could always go back to the Wiccan City and ask around. We know her eye colours and we've got a rough height. Maybe someone will know who we're talking about."

Sighing, I put my plate in the sink and grabbed my boots, heading out to the car without answering

They couldn't really help be if they didn't really believe me.

I _would_ do something about this though. I wasn't about to sit back and let someone mess with my family.

**XXxXXxXX**

**So, this chapter is shorter than the others, I know. The thing is, I hadn't realized how long the others were until I finished them. It was an accident. I can't actually **_**force**_** myself to write them that long. ^^ So, this is all I've got for this chapter.**

**Review please! **

**-Paige.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; if me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing here writing about it when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '...' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

"So how is your hiking trip going?" I asked, holding the phone up to my ear as I sat down on the bar stool.

There was a slightly hesitant pause before Alice answered._ "Good. Emmett was really excited about the Grizzly he got and now we're getting ready to head down South a little and visit some of Jasper's old friends from before Carlisle and Esme adopted him."_ She said. Emmett's booming laughter could be heard on the other line as well.

A grizzly? I knew the boys went hunting while on the hiking trip, but where would they hike where they can also hunt grizzlies? "Sounds dangerous." I replied. "Are you sure you should be hiking and camping where grizzlies roam?"

_"It's perfectly safe with those guys, don't worry."_ She answered with an amused giggle.

Sputtering and shifting on my seat, I blushed furiously. "I'm not!"

_"You're not worried about me with all these bears around?"_

"I mean, I am! But not that you need to be worried about because I'm sure you can take care of yourself, but I'm still concerned at the s-same time!" I hastily said.

There was more laughing over the phone, sounding like Emmett and Jasper, and I scowled. _"I'm just playing with you, Bella. Calm down." _Alice laughed. I huffed._ "So what are you and your sisters up to while we're away? Has Jessica convinced you to go to her party next weekend?"_

Jessica was tossing around invitations left and right to her big party for next weekend. She seemed intent on getting me and my sisters to go as well, and so far I had been somewhat successful at dodging her invitations. She was insistent though, and it was more work to not go then to go, so I was bound to just give up and agree. It's not like I could just avoid her; we had many classes together, she still clung to me in the halls unless Alice was walking with me, and I had been sitting at her table this entire week because the Cullens were on that trip. Apparently they always went whenever the sun was out; it was a tradition or something.

"I'm… I'm just… out…" I replied, looking around the bar. Tanya, Kate, and I had asked around the Wiccan city in England and managed to track down this Witch, who we found out really _was_ another Witch, to this bar here just outside of Austin Texas. No one could give us a name, because she just made deliveries to a shop there in England, and the people we spoke to who gave her the supplies to deliver said it was just her side job she got paid in cash. She told them that they could find her at the 'Cowboy's Inn' though, which was a bar and inn. Now that we were here, we were just waiting to spot her in here, though she hadn't started her shift. That we knew, of course.

While sitting there, I really started to wonder what exactly we did to piss her off enough to send us Terrors. There was no way we had even accidentally bumped into her. But who knows; she worked in England and Texas, maybe she lived in Phoenix and vacationed in Forks. Either way, this Witch certainly got around.

_"Out where?"_ Alice asked curiously. She sounded bored and I wondered if she was just as bored a I was.

"Places?" I said, though it sounded more like a question.

Kate sighed, sitting down on the stool next to mine. "Is she here yet?" She asked, taking off the black cowboy hat and set it on the bar. This place was kind of a themed bar, so in order to not stick out, we had to get dressed up. Tanya was enjoying it quite immensely though. She was wearing a burgundy red dress with black feather trimming, a lace corset, long black gloves and heels, with her hair all done up and a big black feather sticking out of it. She looked like a real saloon girl, like some of the employees and customers did. The real bold ones, like Tanya herself. Kate went for more subtlety, wearing black cowboy boots, the hat, blue jeans, a white T shirt with black suspenders, and a long black cowboy coat with a black bandana around her neck. I wore much the same; black boots, black jeans with criss crossing belts hanging around my waist, a red blouse with a black vest, a red bandana around my neck, and a big black cowboy hat.

_"Is who there yet?"_ Alice asked. I had learned, from Jasper and pretty much the rest of the family, that Alice could be slightly… kind of more than slightly, possessive and jealous. And while that was flattering, I wasn't sure how to handle it and tried to prevent her from getting like that.

"N-No one, really." I quickly replied, elbowing Kate.

"Oh! Uh, Tanya, I meant Tanya." Kate said, leaning close to the phone.

"This place is awesome!" Tanya sand as she set down our drinks. "We have to come back here again sometime. Please?" She asked, looking at me and Kate with puppy dog eyes.

Holding the phone away, I glared at her and shushed her. "Do you mind?"

"Sorry." She mumbled, sipping her drink. "I was just saying, is all." She looked over to Kate who grabbed her hat and got to her feet. "Shall we give miss moody here a little room?"

Kate hooked her arm through Tanya's with a nod. "We shall." And then they were off, disappearing in the crowd of people.

This place, and city, was surprisingly busy. Looking at it on a map, you wouldn't think so, since it's so small; but there were tons of people around here. It reminded me of Tokyo; such a small area with so many people crammed into it. Thank god we didn't have to go _there_; we'd never find her!

_"Bella?"_

Oh! "I'm here; sorry! I just got distracted." I replied, fiddling with my glasses. "What were you saying?"

_"Just that I should probably let you go if you're out and busy. We have to get going soon anyways."_ She said, not sounding too pleased about it. I frowned, feeling the same way but agreed anyways. I didn't want to keep her from her previous engagements with her family; especially if they were travelling even farther down South. They probably had a time table to follow in order to be back in time for school so they don't miss too much._ "Bye, Bella."_

"Bye." I murmured, pausing before hanging up.

Sighing, I pulled on my hat, trying to make it swallow me up whole. I was tired. Not physically or anything like that; it was just mentally tiring to keep up all these secrets, especially from Alice. Not to mention trying to figure her out as well. I kept noticing little things here and there about the Cullens, but any time I try to bring it up with Tanya or Kate, they just tell me I'm looking for reasons to run away from the relationship and junk like that. I wasn't… I don't think. I mean, I'm not the best at them and this is all new, but as far as I could tell; it was going good.

A glass shattering made everyone look up and to the stairs that led to the second level of the bar (even the building was authentic; having more than one level and the rooms and such) to see a girl whirling around and running off. I couldn't get a good enough look at her through the crowd, but I do know she was staring at me when she dropped the glass, or immediately after. So I shot off the bar stool, elbowing my way through the crowds to try and catch her because I'd bet any money at that point in time that it was the Witch. I stepped over the tray and shattered glasses on the stairs, taking them two at a time as I zipped in and around people.

My eyes caught a flash of brown hair down the hall to the left and I turned, chasing after her. _'Guys! I found her! Second floor; I think she's heading for a window! Get outside to grab her!'_ I quickly sent to the others, hopping over the man she nearly tackled as she went past. He was cursing and struggling to get to his feet, though the amount of alcohol he consumed made that task more challenging than it should have been. And I was right too; she hoisted herself out the window and down the side. I caught a glimpse of those blue and brown eyes, though I could have sworn one looked green for a second.

I skidded to a stop at the window sill, getting de ja vous, and wondered why she insisted on jumping out of them all the damn time. Only this was different now, because she was across the alley and racing up the fire escape on the other building. Frustrated, I elbowed the window sill, looking down at all the people on the side walk who could see us. That meant no Shimmering. "Tanya!" I yelled, searching the people down below for the blonde. She was obviously outside the wrong window. Just my luck.

Biting my lip, I noticed that the alley wasn't that wide, and the gap between here and the fire escape might not be totally out of reach. I jogged down the hall, praying in my head that this would work and I wouldn't end up as a Bella pancake on the ground down below. After a few deep breaths and flashing the couple beside me a nervous smile, I sprinted forward. I pushed my legs as fast as they could go, clenching my fists (and glad that my hands weren't still burnt, though they were scarred, but luckily they were very faint scars and you had to really look to see them) and hopped up. Immediately kicking off the window's ledge, I held my breath as I launched across the gap; missing the railing I intended to grab, but miraculously caught the next one down.

"Gah!" I screamed, quickly pulling myself over the railing and slumped back against the stairs. My arms throbbed with pain, but I could still move them and deduced that nothing was seriously wrong there. I don't know why they would make it look so easy in the movies and how the characters are never injured by that; but it was all damn lies.

The Witch was two levels above me but stopped for some reason, leaning over the edge to look down at me. Their face was hidden in the dark and shadows of the night, because alleys stupidly don't have lights in them, so I still couldn't see her that well. "You're going to kill yourself if you don't stop chasing me!" She said in that weird voice. The one that sounded like two.

That wasn't the only thing weird about it though. What she said sounded like a threat or taunt, but… I think I heard some concern in her voice. What the hell?

"Then stop running!" I shouted up, having to crane my neck back to look up past my hat. I got to my feet and raced up the stairs, and she actually seemed to hesitate before she took off again. Because of course they never stay. No one ever does what you ask. Speaking of which…

_'Where are you?'_

Kate inner voice came back agitated. _**'Where are **__**you**__**?'**_

_'On the next building over, chasing her still!' _I replied, turning sharply and heading up the next flight of stairs. _'Probably on the other side of the bar from you.'_

**'Uh, you think?'** Tanya said, sarcastically. **'Toss some major energy waves or a ball at her and knock her off so we can finish this.'**

Rolling my eyes, I looked back down in the alley at the people who were still watching us, probably from the window jumping._ 'There's people around, and I don't think it's every day that they see random energy blasts.'_

_**'Or anything electrical with no wires or anything around like lightning in the sky.'**_ Kate mused._** 'But perhaps a fire wouldn't stick out too much. Fire's happen all over the world all the time. Maybe Tanya can box her in somewhere.'**_

**'If I knew where they were, then maybe.'** She said.

Tanya and Kate had been working with each other on their gifts a lot lately. Tanya could start fires from thin air and put them out with a snap of her fingers, but the whole manipulating it was still a little tricky for her. And Kate had gotten phenomenal at exploding lights, and turning all the appliances in the house into death traps, and during the storms there had been an increase in the amount of lightning we got as well, but so far those guys were pretty new to their affinities still. I was too, but mine was pretty basic; not much to learn.

_'We're on the roof. I don't think there's anywhere else to go.'_ I said, looking around the roof top.

The Witch ran to the door that probably led to the stairs on the inside of the building, but it was locked and solid. No kicking that thing down. "There's nowhere else to go." I said, catching my breath.

She, too, was panting, and turned around and around, frantically looking for an escape. "No? I could always send you a Terror right here." She said, backing up against the door, looking to her side and then back to me.

"Go ahead; I'd like to see how you'd make me think I'm suffocating up on this roof with no pillows or anything in sight." I taunted, feeling bolder and took a couple more steps closer.

"Don't try to play games with me, Isabella!" The voice snarled. It sounded even more… wrong, when it was laced with anger.

"Or what?" I shot back, glaring at her.

She squared her shoulders and I stopped, deciding to keep this distance until the other two showed up. "Or the Terror I'll send you will be much worse than just claustrophobia. You can't hide your greatest fear from me." I couldn't see it, but I knew she was wearing a grin when I remained silent. "Or perhaps I won't even need to send a Terror; maybe we can actually live it once your sisters arrive."

"Don't." I warned, squeezing my fists tight.

"I think I hear them coming now-" She started, but had to jump out of the way from the intense wave of energy I threw at her. The door she had been standing in front of caved in on itself some, the the wall around it cracked; debris and dust in the air. "Now now, Isabella; you mustn't let your anger get the best of you. You wouldn't want to cause an _accident_, would you?"

"Stop!" I growled, charging at her. She ducked under my first two swings at her, and her knee shot up, getting me in the stomach. The air was knocked from me, but I had little time to dwell on that before she grabbed my arm and vest, swinging me around and into the wall. I kicked my feet out, tripping her as she went to run off and quickly pulled off my hand and glasses, tackling her when she got to her feet. It was a struggle full of kicking and punching and scratching, and even biting -she got me good on my left forearm-, before a blast of energy shot me back and off of her a few feet away. Luckily the energy level was weak, and that was the only thing it did.

The air rushed out of my lungs and I was sure I heard something crack as her boot connected with my ribs. Groaning, I rolled over, my mind flashing back to third grade when the 'school bully' deemed that mismatched eyes like mine and my sisters' were worthy of being beaten up over. Given the fact that she was twice my size and had two other friends with her; I was in bed with a bottle of advil and Mrs. Denali hovering over me all weekend. This felt much the same as her foot came back down on my side.

Seriously. After tonight, Kate, Tanya, and I would be taking fighting classes or at least renting more Jackie Chan movies. _Something_ for reference next time.

I grunted, my hand reaching to my back and took in a shuddering breath. Timing it, I waited for her to raise her foot once more to get me, and kicked out my own, knocking her on her back. It was a struggled to get to my feet, ribs were definitely cracked but Tanya could wrap them and save us a trip to the hospital and an explanation to Carlisle, and I was severely bruised, but nothing seemed broken. If I wasn't so hurt, I'd be embarrassed that I got my ass handed to me so quickly.

She whimpered, and I only had a few seconds to wonder why, before I was tackled back further, and we were once again fighting. I hissed in pain and reached a hand up to my left eyebrow, feeling the warm moisture of blood. I shuddered and fought back a gag, reaching out and wrapping my hands around the girl's neck to try and push her away from me, or at least to try and get her to stop hitting me. It worked, seeing as she grabbed my hands and started pulling on them like crazy, even though I wasn't squeezing her neck, just holding it. Huffing while she struggled around, I got my foot up on her stomach, and attempted to kick her off me like I had seen in so many movies, only I apparently got it wrong, because she when up and over my head behind me, still holding my hands.

Good thing too, because the edge of the building was just behind me and she went over. "H-owww!" I screamed, my free hand grabbing my shoulder again, the one of the arm she was hanging from. "Stop moving!" I yelled at her, grimacing at the pain in my arm. She finally stopped, both of us panting.

"Pull me up!" She said and started moving again, trying to climb up my arm.

"Stop!" I growled, and she did once more. I reached down with my other hand, grabbing hers, and started pulling. Even squinting my eyes, I couldn't make out her face; everything fuzzy and blurry, all distorted. "Who are you?"

"Pull me up!" She demanded.

Shaking my head, I let go with one hand, using just my good one now. "Not until you tell me."

There was silence for a few seconds before she laughed. My brows furrowed and I gasped as she let go of my hand, falling down. I strained my eyes, trying to see her, or anything else for that matter. When there was no splat or any other noise, I frowned, sitting backwards. "She Blinked." I muttered to myself, sighing.

"Bel-"

The dented door was smashed off it's hinges and flew down the flight of the stairs that was just behind it, as the energy ball connected with it. "Bella!" Tanya yelled. "It's us!"

My jaw dropped as I scrambled to my feet, reaching my hands out. "I'm s-s-sorry! I couldn't see! I-I-I-"

"Slow down." Kate said soothingly, pushing my glasses into my hands.

"I-I thought it was her a-again! I'm sorry!" I said, sliding on my glasses and blinked a few times. Those two were looking at my eye brow with concern. "Are you okay? I didn't get you, did I?"

The corner of Kate's mouth curved up. "No. Luckily for us; you're a klutz and your reaction time sucks."

"What happened?" Tanya asked, dabbing my eyebrow with some of her sleeve she ripped off.

Wincing, I looked back to the edge of the building. "She got away. Again."

Those two exchanged looks before ushering me to the stairs, both on either side of me.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

"Get in a fight, Bella?" Erik asked as we walked through the parking lot.

Feeling self conscious, I idly reached up and touched the white bandage above my left eyebrow. A little further to the left and she would have gotten my temple and done real damage. "Uh. Why do you say that?" I asked, laughing nervously.

Erik frowned, nodding at my hands. "I watch CSI. Your knuckles are all red and scratched up and you've got a that cut there on your face."

"So that makes you an expert then, does it?" I asked sarcastically with a playful smile.

He grinned with a nod. "Pretty much; yeah. Give me a lead and I could probably find out who the other person was."

"I wish." I mumbled. Because I sure as hell couldn't.

Erik shoved his hands into his pockets. "I trust the other person looks worse?"

With a smile, I shrugged. "Dunno. Didn't have my glasses on."

Erik looked me over. "I'm thinking yes."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, looking down at myself.

Erik just grinned, disappearing in the crowd behind the cafeteria doors.

Smiling and shaking my head, I followed him inside. Today was finally monday and I'd be seeing Alice again, though I was two days closer to Jessica's party. She had been hounding me all morning until I finally gave in, saying I'd go; but only if I could bring Alice. Jessica, grudgingly, agreed and gave me directions to her house and her number in case I got lost. I had laughed, thinking she was joking because this _was_ Forks, but apparently she was serious.

Biting my lip to muffle any sounds, I slowly and gently sat down in the seat next to Alice. I froze, waiting for the pain in my ribs to subside, before relaxing back against the seat and looked over to Alice. "Hey." I said, poking her shoulder.

She was turned, in a deep conversation with Jasper about something, but immediately whipped around with the biggest grin I had ever seen. Her hair was in its usual order, spiked up in all different directions in arranged chaos, deep black and looking silky. I sometimes wondered how she got her hair like that while still looking and feeling silky, because Mike spiked up his hair as well, and it looked crunchy and hard. I'd have to ask her sometime, because I had a little…thing, where unanswered questions drove me crazy and I'd start to obsess over them.

Her eyes were bright, looking like liquid gold, with deeper honey rings randomly spaced out through them. They were surrounded by thick black lashes, batting against pale, blemish free skin with every blink. Her one hundred watt grin lighting up the room, making my head dizzy, was contagious and I could feel the corners of my own mouth curving up slightly.

But then her smile started to fade as her eyes locked on my eyebrow, and I swear they darkened slightly. Her grin was soon replaced with a deep frown, worry in her eyes as she looked from my eyebrow, down to my knuckles, and then her eyes briefly closed like she was listening to something. When her eyes opened, they were locked onto my chest and I blushed before her voice, sounding like wind chimes, questioned me. Only it didn't sound like a question. "You're hurt."

Again, more suspicious behaviour. How did she know my ribs were hurt?

**'Because it took you half an hour to sit down?'**

_'I'm telling you, there's something different about them!'_

Quickly looking over at those two, I saw them roll their eyes.

"Bella, what happened?" Alice asked, her cool hands taking one of mine. Her fingers lightly ghosted over the scrapes, and actually soothed my knuckles.

But then I realized I had to answer. But I also couldn't lie to her. I, as bad as it sounds, had been practicing. Just in little ways, like when she'd call late into the evening because she was bored and wanted to talk, she'd ask what I was up to. I'd try to say something else, but I always ended up telling her exactly what I was doing.

"Er, I…uh… I was-"

Kate cut me off, coming to my rescue. "Robbed!" She blurted out and I had to fight the urge to bury my face in my palm. Everyone turned to look at her and she cleared her throat, glancing at Tanya and then Jasper before continuing. "Bella, poor poor Bella, she's a danger magnet. We went out last weekend and she was robbed. Tried fighting them off, and won, but still…" She trailed off, gesturing to me.

_'Robbed? Really?'_

_**'I panicked! It was all I could think of!'**_

**'Just go with it; it's believable. You ****are**** a danger magnet; you nearly kill yourself every day just walking down the stairs for breakfast.'**

My eyes widened in disbelief at Tanya's smirk. _'This is not time for jokes!'_

Jasper's hand reached out for Alice's shoulder, who I now noticed was stiff and glaring down at my hands. A low noise was coming from her, though I couldn't quite hear what it was, and her hands were tightly clenched in fists. "Alice? Are you okay?"

When she didn't answer, Jasper's hand lightly squeezed her shoulder and her tense posture seemed to relax. She slowly looked up at me, nodding with a grimace. "Yes, just trying not to think of what I'd do to whoever it was that hurt you." She paused, her eyes meeting mine and I had to hold back my gasp as ebony eyes regarded me. "Do you know who it was? Did you get a good look? I'll find them-"

Edward cleared his throat, shaking his head as her eyes flickered over to him.

"Emmett and I will find them for you." She amended, though Edward still didn't look pleased.

When I glanced wearily at Emmett, he nodded, pounding his chest like the big gorilla he was. "Only _I'm_ allowed to kick your ass, Bella Boo, and only in video games." Though what he said was funny, his tone prevented anyone from laughing or smiling. Rosalie's hand slipped into his as she whispered something in his ear.

And things just got tense…

"I think perhaps it would be best if everyone just calmed down. I'm sure the girls already filed a report, and we should trust the police to do their jobs." Jasper said, and strangely enough his words seemed to have worked, because everyone loosened up as the atmosphere changed to a more calm one. He frowned though, looking at me with concern. True, sincere concern, and it was then, as I looked around at all of them, and saw they all actually _were_ worried for me, though Rosalie didn't show it or maybe didn't feel it, that I regretted how much distance I had put between me and them. Sure, I was close with Alice, for obvious reasons, though I _could_ be closer, but I had kept the rest away. Polite conversation. That's all we ever had. "The only thing I can't let go, however, is the fact that the doctor who did your bandaging has done a terrible job."

"Hey! I did the best I could!" Tanya huffed, crossing her arms over her chest before she realized what she said.

Once again, Alice whirled around to me. "You didn't go to the _hospital_?" She asked, her eyes once more bright and golden.

Seriously, was I seeing things? Was I going crazy?

"Um, no?" I said, shifting under everyone's gaze.

Sighing to herself, Rosalie got to her feet and walked around the table, hooking her arm through mine as Alice got up as well. "That was incredibly dumb." She mumbled, and started leading me back towards the doors to the cafeteria.

"Where are we going?" I asked, as Alice took my free hand.

Alice looked at me as if I were crazy. "We have to get you properly looked after. I can't even _fathom_ why you haven't already been to the hospital."

Before I could retort, stating my aversion to visiting the hospital so many times in just one month, my mouth fell open as we approached the slick, red convertible. And then everything pieced itself together. This must be Rosalie's car, and as I had come to learn, Rosalie is car crazy, and doesn't let anyone drive hers. They must have all drove here this morning in it, and that's why she was here now, taking me to the hospital. She didn't want Alice driving it.

Easing into the passenger seat, much against my wishes, I carefully buckled up. Alice was in the back, and Rosalie was driving, though it could have been the other way around, because Rosalie drove just as fast as Alice.

And because the two both drove so damn fast, we were at the hospital in no time. Rosalie went on ahead while Alice helped me out of the car, taking my hand again as we walked into the hospital. I could see Rosalie talking to Carlisle ahead and I sighed. It seemed the only time I ever saw Carlisle was while he was treating my injuries here at this hospital. He walked over with a curious, and concerned face. "Hello Bella. It's good to see you again, though I would have preferred it under different circumstances." He said, offering a friendly smile.

"You and me both." I muttered and his smile widened.

Carlisle ran a hand through his blonde hair, turning to his daughters. "You girls may wait here, Bella and I will be back shortly."

Both Alice and Rosalie went to sit down, Rosalie picking up a magazine, looking at it before frowning and setting it back down. She settled for resting her head back against the wall and looking out the window on the other side of the room. Alice was still watching me though, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. I gave her a feeble smile and wave before following Carlisle off further into the hospital.

Shortly turned out to be not so shortly. Turns out I needed stitches for the cut above my eyebrow to heal properly, Carlisle had to re-wrap my ribs, tighter then Tanya had -which surprisingly helped ease the pain tremendously- and he applied some sort of ointment to my knuckles, telling me they'd heal in a day or two. I received a weird look when he saw the bite mark on my forearm and blushing, I stuttered out my response of how my _robber_ was a dirty fighter.

The car ride back to school was much slower, since Carlisle said to take it slow as to not jostle my ribs so much. Rosalie was grumbling quite a bit during the drive, but at least I got to sit in the back with Alice. Who I was currently leaning against with her arm around me as she traced the light scars from Kate's accident. We had been sitting in silence, with Rosalie playing music up in front, when Alice's tracing of the scars stopped. "Bella?"

"Hmm?" I asked. Sitting back here with Alice was incredibly relaxing, and I had felt myself being slowly pulled into a nap.

There was a short pause as Alice contemplated what she was going to say. "You… you weren't in Texas this passed weekend, were you?" She asked.

She must have felt me froze, because she adjusted so I could look up into hr face. "M-me? In Texas? Why would I be in T-Texas?" I asked, not lying, but not answering either.

Alice looked up to the front, her eyes meeting Rosalie's in the mirror for a second. "Well you know how I told you we extended our trip down South to visit some of Jasper's old friends?" I nodded, my heart thundering in my chest. Had she seen me? Wait, she told me that while I was still in the bar. She hadn't even left yet. "There was some sort of… incident at a local bar that Peter, Jasper's friend…uh, friend's dad, owns. Peter mentioned something about a girl with heterochromia eyes."

Nervously clearing my throat, I sat up straighter instead of leaning on her. "It's m-more common than you would th-think." I replied. "So it _could_ have b-been anyone. Why would I be in Texas anyw-ways?"

Alice smiled again, nodding. "You're right. What a silly thought." She said, grabbing my hand and smiling at me again.

Forcing my own smile not to drop, I nodded, looking away out the window as the guilt clutched at my heart. "Definitely silly…" I mumbled.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

**I kind of like how this turned out. ^^ At first, it was a little rough, but I think I fixed it up.**

**Review please!**

**-Paige.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; if me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing here writing about it when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '...' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

"You look like someone is stabbing you with a pencil."

Scowling and shoving my hands deeper into my pockets, I shrugged my shoulders. "They might as well be."

The corner of Jasper's mouth curved up into an amused smile as his dark amber eyes twinkled. "Kate warned me that you were bad with attention, but I just thought she was exaggerating." He mused, looking around at all the other people in the mall with us before looking back to me. "Hardly anyone is even looking at you."

My own eyes quickly glanced up, scanning the sea of people in front of us before shooting back down to my feet. "I'm… not so good with people. Interacting with them, passing them, just being near them in general." I replied.

Which is why I was so reluctant to go to the mall with Jasper in the first place. He needed someone, me or Tanya, to go with him though because he was already Christmas shopping and needed to know what Kate might like. And since Tanya was busy on her date with Edward because this was their one month anniversary or something, that left me. At first I thought he was joking or something because it was only November and there was still a month and a half left before Christmas, but he insisted it was completely acceptable to go Christmas shopping at the first drop of snow. Unfortunately, the ground had been covered in it for a week or so.

And normally I would have declined right away. Going out wasn't my thing, either. But I _had_ told myself that I wasn't going to keep the Cullens at a distance anymore. So here I was, in this stuffy mall with Jasper, looking for the perfect Christmas present for Kate.

Jasper didn't look like he was doing too well with all these other people either. He'd grimace every time someone got too close, or he'd shy away from the more animated people, rubbing his forehead. Honestly, he was doing worse than I was. At least I didn't make it obvious that just being near people put me in pain.

Well, not _totally_ obvious…

"Have you thought of anything yet?" I asked as we walked past the food court. My stomach rumbled and I looked down at it, holding a hand to it for a second. "You hungry?"

"No and no." Jasper replied, but started heading towards the food court again anyways. "But you are, so we can stop and brain storm some."

After grabbing a stir fry dish to go, we went and sat at the very corner of the food court, away from the clump of people. Jasper pulled out my chair for me and blushing, I took a seat, murmuring my thanks. He was pretty old fashioned like that, I realized. He opened and closed the car door too, or held open the mall doors for other people. And he was extremely polite. I had thought he was just trying to make a good impression on me because I was Kate's sister, but the act hadn't dropped or slipped yet, and actually seemed genuine.

"In all honesty, Jasper, I have no idea what to get either of them." I said, cleaning my glasses on my tie. "They're sneaky like that, never commenting on anything they want. I think they think it's fun to mess with me like that and worry over what to get them."

Jasper chuckled, nodding his head. "That seems like something they'd do." He agreed, running his hands through his wavy/curly hair. I noticed a couple girls a few tables away look over at Jasper, giggling and looking him over again. My eyes narrowed, and when I caught their eyes, I made sure to give them a glare they wouldn't soon forget.

And it worked too, because not a minute later were they packing up their food and quickly leaving in the opposite direction. A small smile tugged at my lips and I looked back to Jasper, seeing him regarding me curiously. "What?"

"Nothing," He replied, shaking his head. "Alice was just right." I raised an eyebrow at him and he straightened out in his chair, smiling widely at me. "You and your sisters are… different."

"Well isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" I asked with a smirk which he returned.

He continued. "Your sisters are very hard to read, unlike most..."

"But?"

His smile widened again. "But they try to fit in. They blend themselves into the crowd." He chuckled. "They walk with the crowd, same direction, down the halls even."

He was starting to confuse me. "What's your point here?" I asked, furrowing my brows.

His smile softened and warmed. "Have you never noticed you're the only one walking against them?"

...Okay?

"I still don't understand. That's the direction of my classes." I replied. "What does walking down a hall have to do with Alice being right?"

Jasper shook his head with that damn smile still in place. "Nothing, never mind. Finish your lunch so we can find Kate's gift."

After trying to get a read on Jasper myself, though ending up nowhere because he was just as much of an enigma as Alice, I went back to my lunch while he thought on gifts. He'd name the ones he thought would be good, but there was always something wrong with them. Like his trip to Mexico, well, some little island near Mexico, with him, Rosalie, and Emmett. I told him the chances of her going were slim because she was reluctant to go anywhere without me and Kate, but also because she couldn't swim. And let's face it, what do you do on an island? You swim.

Like I said, Tanya and Kate were extremely hard people to shop for. That was one of the reasons I could wait longer than most for Christmas. I hated not knowing what to get people, and then all the worrying about if they're going to like it. Then the awkwardness as they go out to look for _me_ for Christmas presents. Too much pressure, if you ask me.

"Wait, Bella, look!" Jasper said, reaching out to grab my sleeve as I walked passed him. He gently tugged me over to the window he was looking in and I sighed. My feet were killing me! We had been there the _entire_ day. He could give Kate a pack of bubble gum at this point for all I care. "That one, right in the middle there. Do you think she'd like it?" He asked, pointing to something in the window as he rested his forehead on the glass.

Grumbling under my breath, I rested my forehead on the glass too, cupping around my eyes to see better. There was a case of _very_ expensive looking jewelry inside, and I internally cringed, hoping not all the Cullens were big spenders on presents like this. But of course they were.

Christmas couldn't be longer away if I wished now. Time to start the dread timer count down.

"The one with the green there?" I asked, taking in all the silver and all the coloured jewels in them.

Jasper nodded as I wiped away at the window where my breath fogged it up, looking over to him. It was a really nice necklace, plus it was Kate's birthstone as well. She'd love it. And I was just about to tell Jasper as much.

But I paused, looking at him still looking in the window. Still leaned right up against it. The only thing wrong with the picture was the fact that the window wasn't fogging up with his breath. At all.

Before I could dwell on it, my cell phone started ringing and Jasper looked over curiously. "Kate." I said, as greeting and also letting him know who it was.

"_Bella, where are you guys? When are you coming home? I want my Jasper back."_ She joked and Jasper smiled brightly.

Good hearing much?"

"_And I want my Bella!"_ Alice's voice chimed in the background.

My own face lit up in a smile before I had the chance to stop it and Jasper grinned as I scowled at him. "We're leaving soon. Found your gift, finally. Honestly, woman. You need to drop hints once in a while, otherwise you'll end up with nothing." I threatened, but in a playful manner.

Kate scoffed. _"Like you're any better."_

"Whatever. We've got to go buy your present and then we're on our way back, see you later." I replied, rolling my eyes to Jasper.

"_Fine, fine, you grouch. Tell Jasper I love him."_ She replied and I had no doubt she too, was rolling her eyes.

"Kate, uh… she l-you know what?" I asked, biting my lip. "I'm sure he knows, Kate." I said, turning my back to Jasper's inquisitive eyes.

"_Can you make sure?"_ She asked with a frustrated sigh.

Looking over my shoulder, I raised an eyebrow at Jasper. "You heard?" He nodded. "He heard."

There was a sigh on the other line again and I frowned. _"Okay, good bye. I love __you__."_

Clearing my throat, I looked off to the side. "You too." I mumbled, closing the phone and walking back over to Jasper. "So, you ready to got lay down a... grand?" I asked, my eyes widening at the price. "Damn."

Jasper followed me soundlessly, into the jewellery department store. We stuck to isles and spaces where there weren't people, avoiding them like the plague as we scouted out a sales person. Every time someone would step into our isle or whatever, we'd turn onto a new one. At first it was subconsciously, habit. But then I could feel Jasper's smile as he followed me, or as I followed him, and it turned into somewhat of a game.

In the end, we spent much more time in there than necessary since most of the people who stepped into our isle _were_ sales people that we turned from. Jasper chuckled as we left the store, a small bag with the velvet box inside of it in Jasper's hands as he chuckled. "I'm never going to survive Jessica's party tonight. It's going to be such a small space with so many people crammed in it." I half groaned, half laughed. Turning to look at Jasper, I pursed my lips. "Are you and Kate going?"

Jasper nodded with a grimace and we laughed some more. "Unfortunately, yes. Jessica invited both your sisters, I guess hoping they'd bring you, when instead they decided to bring me and Edward."

"Rosalie and Emmett?" I asked.

"Consider themselves dodging a bullet." He said with a shake of his head. "And I have to agree. I'm not looking forward to this little get together."

"Why are you going then?" I asked as we left the mall and headed for the parking lot that was covered in snow.

We had taken Edward's Volvo here, since there was no way Rosalie would let us take her car, and Emmett's Hummer just... I don't know, it was an attention magnet. "Kate really wants to go even if she doesn't like Jessica. Erik, Ben, Tyler, and Angela are going to be there and she really likes them."

That brought an idea to mind. I could feel the gears working in my head. "Hey! Alice doesn't like Jessica either, but she doesn't hang out with Erik, Tyler, Ben, or Angela, maybe I could convince-"

Jasper cut me off. "Maybe not, but she loves parties. I'm afraid the chances of you skipping this are slim to none." He said with a sympathetic smile.

"I was afraid of that." I muttered, kicking some snow before getting into the Volvo.

Most of the car ride back to Forks was silent. Jasper liked listening to the radio, and surprisingly liked the same things as me. Mostly rock, but some classic, and techno even. He laughed at my shocked face, and then I laughed at the face he made when I told him that I took him for a country music man. He agreed with me that most country music was about drinking and driving big trucks, and did not capture his interest.

We were on the highway, about twenty minutes back to Forks, when I broke the silence again. "So, I didn't have a terrible time." I said abruptly, looking over at him from the window.

Jasper raised an eyebrow, though kept his eyes on the road, much to my gratitude. Alice had a habit of keeping eye contact while talking to you, even when she was the one driving. "Is that your way of saying you had a good time?"

"That's about as good as it gets." I nodded.

"Huh." He said, smiling. "Well I don't find spending time with you terrible."

"I wouldn't decline another offer like this sometime in the future." I responded with a smirk.

Jasper laughed again, briefly closing his eyes. "You're a very strange girl, Bella Swan."

My smile brightened as I looked back out the window and at the trees passing by.

Jasper wasn't a terrible guy.

**xxXXxxXXxx**

"Bella, phone!" Tanya called from the other side of the door as she started twisting the door knob.

With a sigh, I lightly smacked my forehead against the wall of the shower as she let herself in. Seriously, did those two not understand the whole boundaries thing? Did they not realize how many lines they cross in just one day?

"Tanya, for the billionth, and probably not last, time; I'm _naked_ in here." I growled, covering myself up as best as I could.

"There's a curtain, calm down." Tanya said, holding the phone to the small crack between the curtain and wall for me to poke my head out.

"Thanks." I murmured, taking the phone from her hands as she turned her head away and walked back out. "Hello?"

"_Bella!"_

"Hey, Alice." I grinned

There was clinkering around on her end of the phone, what sounded like silverware against plates. _"What are you up to?"_

"Uh," Holding the phone up to my ear with my shoulder, I reached out for the bottles at the other end of the shower, trying not to wreck my phone. "Conditioning. You?"

It took Alice a few seconds to respond, and when she did, her voice sounded rougher, and dropped an octave. _"Supper."_ She cleared her throat, her voice light and high again. _"Just finishing supper and was about to go get ready for Jessica's party. What are you wearing?"_

"What?" I gasped, a blush creeping up my neck. I had heard that line in the movies before! Was she-"

"_To the party, Bella."_ She giggled. _"If I meant it __that__ way; I'd ask what __aren't__ you wearing."_ She laughed, and my blush intensified. _"Unless you shower with your clothes on."_

Sputtering, I ignored everything she said but the question. "Black and white to Jessica's p-party."

"_Is that a blush I hear in your voice?"_ Alice giggled on the other line.

Trying desperately to fight off the red in my cheeks, I shook my head even if she couldn't see me. "N-no." Damn stutter. That's probably what gave it away.

Honestly. It's sad when you can't even lie over the phone.

"_Fibber Fox. But I should let you go so we can both get ready."_ Alice sighed. Something shattered in the background and I could hear a muffled curse. And only Emmett's voice was deep enough to fit. _"Emmett did it!"_ Alice chimed before giggling. There sounded like a struggle on the other line, with Emmett cursing again, though Alice's name came up a few times as he growled in frustration. _"Gotta go, bye!"_

Laughing to myself, I hung up the phone and quickly finished. The second I opened the bathroom door, Kiki swooped in, perching on my bathrobe clad shoulder. I smiled softly at him and then started down the hallway towards my bedroom, trying to think of what to wear to Jessica's party now. Black and white. Hmm.

Kate stepped out of her own bedroom in a robe with her hair up in a towel. "What are you wearing tonight?" She asked as I stopped by her door, leaning against the wall.

"Beats me, I was just going to ask. You're the one with party experience." I replied.

Kate furrowed her brows, puffing a lock of black bangs that fell from her towel in her face. I don't think she'd look to bad with completely black hair, though I knew neither her or Tanya would ever get rid of their blonde. Alas, I was the only one who could live without blonde. Though I probably couldn't live without the black, so I guess I understood where they were coming from. Actually, come to think of it, I don't think I could live without the blue in it as well. Any other colour wouldn't match because of my blue eye. "Tanya!" Kate called.

Not a second later, Tanya shimmered into the hall with us, wearing a robe as well, with her huge slippers. "Yes?"

"I don't know what to wear." Kate and I said in unison.

Huffing to herself, Tanya marched into Kate's room and over to her big closet. She rummaged through it for a few minutes until she grabbed a pair of faded jeans with some sort of design on the left thigh and a green V neck T shirt. "Grab a sweater also, there's going to be a bon fire later or something." She said, flashing Kate a smile before she grabbed my hand and dragged me into my room and over to my closet. She hummed as she went through my stuff, picking things out and then putting them back again.

"How about we go for regular teenager tonight?" She asked with a smirk thrown my way before pulling a few things out. "Now hurry and get dressed, Emmett and Alice are coming to pick you up when Edward and Jasper get here."

"Emmett?" I asked, following her to my door.

She nodded. "Yeah, we can't all fit in Edward's Volvo. Emmett is going to drive you and Alice in his hummer." She replied, closing the door behind her as she exited.

"Huh." I muttered, walking back over to my bed. Kiki flew off to my dresser, walking along it to the food dish there. Neither Kate or Tanya liked having it in their rooms, or anywhere seen really, since he was such a messy eater. But I didn't mind, so we kept it in my room.

My eyes scanned over everything on the bed before I gave a nod and took off my glasses to get dressed. I would _not_ get those suckers caught in another shirt again. Quickly slipping on the black jeans, I put my phone in the back pocket, turning to grab the white T shirt. It had a black dragon on the side, reaching over to the front. Yes, I was a geek and liked dragons. Fumbling with my socks, I hopped on one foot as I pulled the last one on, and then grabbed the black leather coat, slipping it on as well. It seemed to be the only thing that wasn't extremely form fitting, about this outfit. But I trusted Tanya, so with that in mind, I grabbed my glasses and headed downstairs to the kitchen for something to snack on.

Emmett yelped as I walked into the kitchen, jumping before furrowing his brows at me. "Jeesh, Bella. You look like a completely different person in normal clothes."

"Why'd you jump?" I asked, walking around him and opened the fridge, looking for something.

Emmett's massive shoulders rose and dropped in a shrug. "For a second I thought I was in the wrong house."

Turning my back to him as I took a bite out of the left over pasta from lunch, I hummed some sort of response. The Cullens were... well, I noticed that they seemed fascinated whenever we ate something. I had also noticed that they never ate in front of us, but Alice said that they were on a special gluten free diet or something. Still, you'd think seeing someone eat would be normal, but... I don't know, Alice was captivated by it.

It didn't really matter though. I didn't mind; it's not like _I_ didn't have my quirks. Besides, the face she made while watching me was cute.

"Where's Alice?" I asked, sitting down at the island and pushing the pasta around in the container.

"In the bathroom, doing finishing touches or something." Emmett replied. "Your sisters?"

"Same." I nodded.

The door bell rang and I pushed away from the island, heading down the hall to go answer it. Edward and Jasper were there with smiles. Edward was in slacks and a blue long sleeved shirt with his coat over it, and Jasper in a pair of jeans and a black button up with a jean jacket. "Good evening, Isabella." Edward said and I twitched at the name and he noticed, smiling sheepishly as he corrected himself. "Sorry, Bella."

A little while ago I had asked them all to start calling me Bella. We saw each other too much for me to stand being called Isabella every time they saw me. "Hey guys. The girls are just, er, finishing. Soon, hopefully." I said, realizing I had been downstairs for a good fifteen minutes now.

"Women." Edward chuckled as the two came inside, smiling at Emmett as he padded down the hall to the living room. He was pretty at home here, mostly because he'd find excuses to come over and try to find new hidden doors or something of the sort. Kiki as well, because apparently he always hid whenever Emmett came over. I wasn't sure if it was a game or if he was scared, but Emmett was determined to find him eventually.

"So," I sighed, stuffing my hands into my pockets as the three got comfy in the living room. They all looked up at me expectantly. "Um, you thirsty? We've got w-water, or maybe some juice, a-and soda. M-milk maybe?" I asked, scowling at the stutter. "S-s-sorry."

"Relax, Bella." Jasper said, offering a comforting smile. Which worked, like earlier at the mall, because not a second later did I fee calm.

"We're fine, thank you." Edward replied. I nodded and it got quiet again, as I shifted on my feet. "So, how did you enjoy shopping?" He asked.

Jasper chuckled as we exchanged looks. "It was... crowded." I said, feeling confident with my answer. "But not bad."

Emmett looked between Jasper and I, pursing his lips. "You guys are weird."

Twenty minutes later, we were all sitting on the couch, eyes glued to the big screen TV in front of us. "Spitter! Spitter!" Edward yelled, his voice raising a couple octaves which I snickered at. He huffed, lightly elbowing me in the side as he sat up straighter. "She's going to kill me!"

"Hang in there, buddy!" Emmett boomed, bouncing on his cushion as his player ran over, slicing into the Spitter with a chain saw. "Aha!"

"We killed the tank for you." Jasper said, trying to suppress his smile.

"Now hurry up before another horde comes, I'm not going to last much longer." I said, biting my lip as my player jumped onto the car.

Emmett had somehow managed to set up the X box and TV so we could all play, even though I had thought it to be impossible without playing online. He had fiddled behind the TV and ran out quickly to go grab his own X box, setting everything up quickly. All in a matter of ten minutes, and I didn't even want to _imagine_ how fast he sped home and back in that hummer, because he was about to drive me and Alice in it.

Ever since then, as had been in a video game coma. I had only realized it had been twenty minutes when we finished yet another level and quickly glanced at the grandfather clock. "We are so going to be late." I murmured, my eyes flickering back over to the screen.

Emmett snorted. "In a hurry to see Jessica, are we?"

Shuddering, I leaned around Edward to glare at him and sock him on in the shoulder. He didn't even blink though and I leaned back. "I'll kill you, man."

Emmett guffawed and smirked at me. "I'd like to see you try, Baby Bella." My eyes widened at the nickname of Tanya's to me before they narrowed again.

"In the game. I'll kill you in the game." I grinned wickedly.

His smirked quickly dropped from his face as he looked back to the screen. "Wait, this is my last health pack! We're on the same team here, Bella!" He whined before pausing and boomed out a loud laugh.

We had to pause the game and look over at him as he shook with his laughter, leaning against the arm of the couch as he shook his head. "W-we're on the same team." He laughed harder again, looking at me through squinted eyes that were crinkling at the sides with his laughter. "Get it? 'Cause you're dating AliCat?"

My face heated up to the point that I was sure I'd get a nose bleed, causing Emmett to laugh even harder. Even Edward started chuckling, but I think it was just because Emmett's laughter was rubbing off on everyone in the room. My own lips trembled with a laugh as I held it in.

Glancing over to look at the still silent Jasper, I was surprised to see him leaning away from me stiffly with his head turned. Dude, I don't think he was even breathing! "Jasper, are you okay?" I asked, tapping his shoulder as Edward and Emmett sobered up.

His golden/blonde wavy/curly hair shook as he nodded jerkily. "Yes. Sorry. Headache." He said through clenched teeth.

After a few seconds, he let out a deep breath and leaned back into the couch again with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that. I seemed to have a constant headache today. Emmett's volume didn't help."

"Sorry, bud." Emmett said with an apologetic smile of his own. Jasper just waved it off.

He picked up his controller, raising an eyebrow. "Kill the next tank by yourself and we'll call it even." He said with a challenging smirk. We were playing on the most difficult level, and everything but the tanks were easy. Well, unless you're Edward who always managed to get stuck in the acid from the Spitter.

Seriously. It was like he purposefully sought out the Spitter and just stood there, waiting for her to spit at him.

Emmett came through on his end of the deal though, and took on the tank by himself. We helped as little as we could, which was basically just taking care of the horde, or any other infected that went at him while he attempted killing it. And I _might_ have accidentally lit him on fire in the process, but really it was his fault for backing up into the Molotov explosion. And maybe a little my fault for throwing it so close to them.

Cool arms wrapped around my neck from over the back of the couch as Alice's Vanilla/Chocolate scent engulfed me. "Are you having fun, my Bella?" She asked, her cool cheek pressed against mine. My heart always skipped a beat whenever she said _my Bella_ and I swear she knew it. She'd get this light in her eyes as her smile warmed up just a tad more, every single time.

"Y-yes." I replied, closing my eyes and breathing in her scent.

Emmett chuckled quietly under his breath and when I opened my eyes again, I saw that my player had died. I could care less at that moment though as I turned my head to look back at Alice.

She stepped back, doing a twirl as she giggled and I saw Edward roll his eyes.

She wasn't wearing anything fancy, definitely not anything that would take _that_ long to get ready in. Of course, I could be wrong. I was no fashion expert or anything, heck; I had to get my sister to pick out clothes for me, but what she was wearing seemed simple enough. Light blue jeans tucked into tall black high heel boots. A black tank top with a red cardigan over top that was buttoned up half way. Her hair, maybe, was what took a while. Still looking silky to the touch, she had it all down this evening, her bangs just brushing her chin. Her eyes were a deep honey gold, nearly amber, staring back at me expectantly.

"Why'd you need to know what I was wearing?" I blurted out after a moment and Emmett snorted.

Edward and Jasper covered up their smiles as I glanced at them curiously, and it was Tanya, who also entered the room shortly after, who pointed out what I did wrong. Frowning at me, she shook her head. "Bella, the first thing you say when you see Alice, should be a compliment. It let's _us_ know that _you_ like and appreciate the effort we put into looking nice." She said, flicking my forehead as she walked around the couch to stand in front of Edward, gesturing to herself.

Edward didn't miss a beat. "You look beautiful."

"See?" She said, leaning into him as he stood up.

Well crap.

Quickly scrambling to my feet and around the couch, I timidly stood in front of Alice, ignoring Emmett still chuckling under his breath. I was so killing his player next time. Right after he did an amazing accomplish; I'd swoop in and slaughter him.

Smiling and blushing sheepishly, I looked over Alice again, hesitantly meeting her eyes. "S-sorry. I didn't know-w." I awkwardly cleared my throat, my hands balling up and getting sweaty in my pockets. "You really _do_ look good though." My eyes raked over her perfect, blemish free skin. Looking like porcelain, how pale it was. Though no perfectly manufactured doll could even rival her. A stark contrast to her deep black hair. Forcing your eyes to immediately lock onto her blood red lips. Her image more beautiful and captivating then a Siren's song. "Beauty pers-sonified."

Kate's voice broke me out of my trance as she skipped over into Jasper's arms. "I don't care if you compliment me or not as long as you always look at me like that." She said, gesturing over to me and Alice.

I blushed furiously, ducking my head as I look away. Damn staring.

This was really Alice's fault though. If she weren't so…

Stop staring!

"Er, so are we going?" I choked out, fearing I might pass out from all the blood rushing to my head.

Tanya smirked at me as she grabbed Edward's hand, leading him to the front door with the rest of us following. "Yeah, as it is, we're going to have to pretend we were there from the beginning and hope Jessica doesn't realize we're late."

"Maybe we just shouldn't go then. Let's go to the movies or something instead!" Alice offered, her bright smile falling as Edward looked over his shoulder with his own smirk.

"Now, now, Alice," He chided, helping Tanya into her coat. "We know you don't particularly like Jessica; but that's no reason to be rude and just skip her party." Jasper's eyes twinkled with mirth as he also helped Kate into her own coat.

Alice's face darkened and her hand immediately slipped into mine as she stepped closer. "Why she can't comprehend the fact that you're taken and with _me_, is beyond me. And frankly, it makes me…"

"Jealous." Jasper offered as the four walked over to Edward's volvo.

"_Upset_, that you still like hanging out with her." Alice said and held up her hand as I opened my mouth to say something. "Now, I'm not saying who you can and cannot be friends with, because that's not my place; I don't control you or your life, but I'm just saying this so you know ahead of time, the reason why I'm in such a bad mood in her company."

Raising my eye brow, I helped her into the back of Emmett's hummer and hopped in beside her as he started the monster up. "Are you done?"

"Yes." She huffed.

"Alright, first of all; I'm not forcing you to go to this either." I said, gesturing around. "I, unfortunately, made the obligation but you didn't. Secondly, she may fancy _me_, but I fancy _you_. And I've got no eyes for anyone but _you._"

Emmett cooed up front. "Aww. Who would have thought that you of all people could be such a smooth talker."

The rest of the ride to Jessica's was relatively quiet other than listening to music again. Sometimes Emmett would comment on something, or just randomly say something. Apparently he didn't like long silences where no one spoke. Alice didn't mind though, seeing as she always had something to talk about, and I just sat back grinning at the two siblings. We finally arrived at Jessica's, and the place was lit up like crazy. Every light in her house seemed to be on, music baring, people crammed in everywhere. Cars lined the driveway and the side of the road, and it _looked_ like everyone from school was there.

"Holy cow." I muttered, idly helping Alice back out of the hummer. Emmett just laughed as he honked and sped off down the road again. "Are they usually this…full?"

"Parties?" Alice asked as we joined the other four and started down the driveway.

"Yeah. Everyone…there's so many… _do_ you guys want to go catch a movie?" I asked, looking around at them.

Kate rolled her eyes, nudging my shoulder with hers. "Calm down, Bella. It's not like they're going to burn you if you get too close. Oh, and you forgot this." She said, pushing my ring into my hand.

"Whoops." I mumbled, slipping it on. Alice took my hand again, spinning the ring around my finger a few times as she examined it.

Mike was Jessica's shadow it seemed, as she elbowed her way through the crowd to the front door. "You made it!" She gushed, jerking forward but stepped back again at the look Alice gave her. "Uh, well, come on in. Grab a drink, have a snack, mingle, dance." She said, ushering us farther into the house as she took Jasper, Tanya, and Kate's coats. "Can I get your coat, Isabella?" She asked, her hands already reaching under it and resting on my shoulders, about to take it.

"I'm good." I replied, quickly stepping back and letting her hands fall to her sides. Alice's glare was deadly as her own arm slid around my back under my coat, holding me closer to her side. "Er, catch you later."

Jessica just pursed her lips and nodded, turning and disappearing into the crowd.

Alice was tense as we walked over towards Angela and Ben who were getting a drink by the table. I leaned down to her ear, quickly breathing in her scent again. "Eyes for none other than you." I reminded her.

She beamed up at me when I straightened back up.

"_Alice_, Bella, you're here." Angela said, sounding surprised. Though it was clear as day that both Alice and Jessica hated each other.

Alice nodded, her smile straining. I was starting to feel bad for dragging her here. "Of course. I wouldn't make my Bella go alone."

Letting out a laugh, Ben nodded. "I know what you mean. We gotta be ready to beat people off of our women, especially at parties where drunk schmucks somehow get it into their heads that they've suddenly got a chance." He said.

"Nick passing the moves on Angela again?" Tyler asked as he came over to grab a little plastic plat of chips.

Ben just grumbled, shuffling closer to Angela. Her cheeks tinted pink as she smiled nervously at me. "Ben get's a little jealous." She said, though the corner of her mouth twitched.

She probably thought it was flattering too.

Flattering, but hard to deal with. You don't want to encourage it, but a tiny part of you also doesn't want it to stop.

"Come dance with me, my Bella." Alice said, standing on her tip toes to speak into my ear. I still almost didn't hear her because of how loud the music got. I guess people were starting to pour out onto the back deck.

Offering the other three a small wave, I let Alice pull me over to the living room where a mass of people were dancing. She did a little spin before placing my hands on the back of her hips and then clasped her own behind my neck.

We danced most of the night away, and I was surprised for a second time at how much I liked dancing with Alice. On my own, I couldn't seem to keep my feet under me, but with Alice, I hardly ever even stumbled. We danced, and joked and laughed around while the music blared around us and the other people turned into one big blur.

It was when Alice was laughing once again, her tinkling laughter as she buried her face into my shoulder, that I felt it.

My chest tingled and warmed while my smile grew and my hands tightened around her. My heart felt like it was having a cramp as I pulled her closer to me, feeling like she was still too far away.

I could feel both Kate and Tanya's shock and knew they were trying to tell me _something_ but it was hard to hear through the Alice cloud that fogged up my head.

**'-h my gosh.'**__Tanya finished, and I could practically hear her dropped jaw.

Kate seemed at a loss for words for a moment. _**'Are you…did you…did - she just actually fell in **__**love**__** with Alice?'**_

Alice pulled back with a big grin still. "That was hilarious. Did you see the face Mike made as he slipped?"

It _was_ comical. Even Mike himself couldn't help but laugh as he laid there on his face.

_'I have to tell her.'_

**'Yes! Tell her! Aw, Bella tell her right now! It's perfect!'**

No -

_'Not that. Tell her what I am. What we are. I can't stand lying to her anymore. Especially not now. I just, I __need__ to tell her now.'_

_**'You can't do that, Bella. We're not ready. They might leave.**_' Kate's voice was panicked, sounding like she was on the verge of a break down.

I _needed_ to tell her though. Just staring down into her deep eyes, standing there in the middle of Jessica's living room, I could feel the words on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to tell her everything about me, I wanted-

**'Just give us some time. We'll tell them together or something. Just give us some time.'** Tanya pleaded.

_'Fine. But hurry. I can't keep it to myself much longer.'_

And so we agreed to wait. I'd give them a week. Maybe two, and then I was going to tell her.

Tanya and Kate both gave me grateful smiles as Alice and I joined the group out by the fire. There was only one seat left, but Alice seemed perfectly content to sit in my lap and cuddle up to my side. Everyone was taking turns telling stories or jokes or just talking to one another with the music off in the background. Some people were munching, while others were cooking marshmallows over the fire. Even the odd snowball would fly over and get someone in the chest or the back of the head.

If I thought trying to stay awake while cuddling Alice in the back of Rosalie car was hard, this was worse. Or better, rather. With a cozy warm fire in front of us, all bundled up in my coat with Alice snuggled against me with her head on my shoulder and her face in my neck, where she'd randomly drop a kiss or nuzzle, it was nearly impossible to not nod off. I might have a couple times, actually.

"Stay at my house tonight." I murmured, my voice rough and scratchy. Yep, definitely fell asleep.

Tanya almost choked on nothing in the chair beside us and I could feel her eyes on me.

I rolled my own. "Not like that. Just sleeping. And then breakfast. Maybe I could take you out tomorrow." I said, my eyes fluttering closed again. Seriously, she was my personal sleeping pill it seemed.

Alice smiled against my neck. "Really?"

"Yup."

Alice cuddled further into me. "Sounds good."

Heck yeah, sounds good.

Sounds freaking awesome.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

**Wha-BAM. Friggin' fast update!**

**Sooo, review and such forth. Coo over those two. Throw in what you want to happen, just leave a "howdy" if you want. But I like hearing from you guys, so say something! ^^**

**-Paige.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; if me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing here writing about it when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '...' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

The passed week flew by fast. So insanely fast that I was nearly knocked off my feet once or twice.

Well, that's not entirely true. I'm knocked off my feet nearly everyday because I'm a klutz, but you know what I mean.

School was school, a never changing aspect of life, but with the Cullens and my sisters there, it was bearable. The whole week I spent my lunch at the Cullen table and I would have felt bad for ditching my other friends, if it weren't for Angela and Ben, who encouraged me to spend more time with Alice. Friday, though, Alice actually dragged my over to Ben and Angela, and plopped me down next to them at lunch, sitting next to me as well, so that I could catch up with them.

Emmett, Jasper, Edward, and I were hanging out a lot more often as well. Whether it be playing video games like the night of the party, grumbling to one another as we were dragged around the mall by our other halves, or just hanging out in general at the Cullen's place. That's where we usually were, mostly because Tanya, Kate, and me were afraid of any of them wandering off into the attic, or if we left something out that was… witchy. Plus, Esme invited us over nearly every night for supper. Whenever we were over, she was usually cooking for us. Snacks, lunch, breakfast even. The woman liked to cook, apparently. You'd think she'd get sick of it, having to cook for their big family all the time.

Currently, Kate and I were standing at the kitchen island with bowls of cereal in our hands as we looked down at Duchess. "What about this one?" She asked, pointing to the page I was about to turn.

Looking up at her skeptically, I set my bowl down. "And how exactly would summoning a Bounty Hunter help us?" I asked. Really? She thought _that_ would help?

Kate huffed, reading over the page. "It finds _any_one, for the right price. Witch, Warlock, Human, etc. See? It'll find her in no time flat, and then you can stop worrying so much." She said, tucking a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "I don't even know _why_ you're still looking for her; we haven't heard or seen her in a week and a half. Maybe she gave up and is leaving us alone now, Bella?"

That theory just didn't sit well in my stomach.

"Fat chance. That doesn't make sense; why would she, seemingly randomly, start messing with us, and then just up and stop. She _won_ that fight; there's no reason for her to stop. It's not like I scared her away." I replied, flipping the page.

"Fine." Kate grumbled. "Why not the Bounty Hunter, then?"

"Because," I didn't bother looking up as I continued flipping through the pages. "A Bounty Hunter's price is too high; a heck load of cash and a future favour. What if he wants us to, I don't know, kill someone for him?"

Kate sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Good point."

We continued looking on in silence for a few more minutes while we waited for Tanya to finish getting ready. Honestly, you'd think every morning the girl grew a whole _new_ body, with how long she took getting ready. Kate and me, the time it took us to get ready, _combined_ was still less than Tanya. Perhaps the gravity in her bedroom was greater than the rest of the world, making her movements slow and sluggish. Or maybe time just ceased to exist in there, and what feels like twenty seconds, is actually hours out here.

Dude!

Time _ceasing_ to exist in one room, while it continued out here in the next…

"Are you _high_?" Kate asked, looking at me like I had lost my mind.

Sputtering and picturing a big brick wall, I furiously shook my head. "N-No! I was, I was just…venturing ideas, is all."

Kate shook her head, flipping the page again. "Honestly, Bella, sometimes you have the mind of a stoner."

"Who's a stoner?" Edward's voice asked behind us.

Kate and I squealed, jumping a foot in the air as we spun around. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett were standing there looking at us curiously. Well, Emmett was laughing at us, as per usual. A piece of paper could amuse the giant.

"No one!" I replied quickly, glaring at Kate beside me. "Kate just doesn't appreciate me ideas, that's all. What are you doing here?"

Jasper gave the two of us a curious look before walking over, smiling warmly down at Kate. "Just wanted to hang out while the girls are out for the day at the mall." He said, leaning in to kiss Kate.

"Without me?" Kate exclaimed, leaning back away from his kiss to give him a shocked look. "Alice knows that I needed to get a new pair of shoes!" She huffed.

Rolling my eyes, I cleaned my glasses on my sleeve. "Honestly, you could fill up my entire closet with your shoes. I think you have enough, dear sister."

"You can never have enough shoes, silly girl." Tanya scoffed, walking into the kitchen, right into Edward's ams that wrapped around her.

I didn't bother hiding my dislike for…well, not necessarily dislike, because I had nothing against shoes. I just didn't see the point of having so many. Nor could I see the fascination over them. The reactions people had over things like that was mind boggling. "It's like you're a whole different species." I murmured, staring at Tanya like I would the product of my experimentations of new potions and spells and whatnot.

Tanya watched me observe her, shifting uncomfortably as she frowned. "Stop studying me." She huffed, waving her hand at me as she leaned against Edward even more. He just chuckled. Tanya looked up at him with furrowed brows. "And what are you laughing at?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. It's just, whenever we have…certain guests passing through town or stopping by for a short visit, we often have to remind Carlisle that he's quite obviously studying them right in front of their faces. People don't always like that, especially our friends down on the reservation, but Carlisle can't help himself. He's very intrigued by their…nature."

Tanya and Kate laughed with the boys while I stewed on this information. Carlisle studied people, seemingly without even realizing it sometimes. And while I understood that, seeing as I did it myself, I was a little irked to come across this little piece of information. It wasn't good for us, Carlisle studying people. What if he studied us? What would he find? _Had_ he studied us? If so, what _had_ he found?

And yes, perhaps I shouldn't be reacting like this. I _had_ planned on telling Alice myself sometime soon. Very soon, with hope. So Carlisle figuring it out and forcing us to say, to get the secret off our chests, seemed like a problem solver. But the thing was, I had no problem with him knowing. I trusted Carlisle. I trusted every one of the Cullens, even Rosalie. Rosalie more so, actually. She still wasn't a fan of mine or my sisters, we weren't all buddy-buddy, but that's why I trusted her. She wasn't quick to let people in. Her trust was hard to earn, there were walls to be broken down, doors to unlock, and such. Like me.

My point; I didn't mind any of them knowing.

It was just _how_ they would or do know.

The thought of Carlisle _figuring it out_ on his own, of piecing everything together and coming to the correct conclusion…that was unsettling. Because, if he could do it, who else could? Our secret wouldn't be safe anymore if he really had figured it out. Anyone could find out what we were if given the chance then. Our secret wouldn't be safe. _We_ wouldn't be safe.

I hadn't realized I unconsciously moved closer to my sisters while in thought. I did, however, when Emmett asked about the book I had inadvertently displayed then, no longer standing in front of it, blocking it.

"What's that?" He asked, his face scrunching up in confusion as he stepped closer to it.

Simultaneously, all three of us threw ourselves at the kitchen island Duchess was sitting on, those two blocking as much as they could while I slammed Duchess closed. "Atlas."

"Dictionary."

"Photo album."

Scowling, I side glanced at them both, looking back to the Cullen boys who were giving us looks. "What is it?" Jasper asked again, confused by our different answers.

"Dictionary."

"Photo album."

"Atlas."

Lucky me there was no wall so smack my forehead on. Clearing my throat, I shifted Duchess in my hands, smiling sheepishly at the boys. "It's an atlas, but we've got photo album pictures in there of places we'd like to see or we _have_ seen, with a dictionary of sorts in the back. The definitions of some complex words, or translations." Thank god Alice wasn't there or I wouldn't have been able to lie and those guys hadn't thought of anything to tell them.

Emmett grinned. "We move around a lot too - I'll show you where my favourite house we've lived in is!" He said, reaching for Duchess.

Tanya, Kate, and I stiffened, watching as his large pale hands reached out, barely skimming Duchess before she launched off out of my hands, skidding across the floor away from us all. A long, _long_ time ago, Duchess was charmed with a protective spell from our great-great-great-great-great-great-…great?-grandmother. Anyone who didn't have our family blood in them couldn't touch the book. Charlie couldn't even. Duchess would either fly off away from the touch, making it impossible for whoever was trying to get the book, or sometimes she'd electrocute them, which Kate found hilarious, or…put them to sleep. It was a book, so it couldn't exactly knock someone out physically, but it was like that. The minute you touched her, _poof_, you were out like a light, unconscious for hours.

Kate forced a laugh. "What a klutz." She said, grabbing Jasper's hand and dragging him off somewhere. "Want to go see a movie?"

Tanya did something similar, whisking Edward away, while I distracted Emmett with an X box challenge.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

"GUYS!" I screamed.

Thirty seconds later, both Tanya and Kate bursted into the attic. Their eyes were wide and panicked, taking in everything in the room, Kate with a knife from the kitchen in her hands, Tanya with a broom. Honestly, sometimes I worried about those two. They could manipulate fire and electricity to do their will, and they grab _kitchen_ weapons? They relaxed slightly though, when they saw me standing in the middle of the room with a grin on my face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing at all! Everything is right!" I sang. "You will not believe what I just did."

The two set down their weapons, walking over to me with curious looks. "So? Tell us." Kate said, looking over my table of things.

Still grinning, I walked around behind the table, letting them look. It was filled with rocks. Gems, really. Rubies, amethyst, jade stones, crystal, howlite, all kinds of colours, red, green, blue, yellow, clear, purple, etc. There were also little vial filled with colourful liquids, pieces of paper with steps, instructions, spells, and things written on them, and Duchess in the corner of the table. I myself, really felt like I was playing the part of the scientist, seeing as Tanya really _had_ gotten me something to wear for this thing. Not a white lab coat like I had wanted, because she said it wouldn't do much to protect me. She had gotten my a big, thick apron though, with thick black rubber gloves that went up to my elbows. That, along with the vintage welding goggles, really made me feel like I was in some old book or movie…like I was an Alchemist or something.

"Okay, so I know you both are a little miffed that I've been 'cooped up in the attic for two days now' and stuff, only leaving to talk to Alice on the phone," She was on another hiking trip this weekend, out enjoying the sun. "But I think you'll find it was worth it once you see what I've done." I said, sliding my goggles up onto the top of my head to hold my hair out of my face, and quickly grabbed my glasses to put on.

"Well? What did you do?" Tanya asked, picking up a vial to inspect.

"Right!" I said, ripping myself away from my notes, turning to the big pot on the table with the hot element built in it. I could barely focus I was so giddy. "So, after hours of studying Duchess and my ring, I figured out how to Charm." I said, slipping on one of the big black rubber gloves. With my gloved hand, I grabbed the large iron tongs handle, whose other end was in the pot, clamped on something that was submerged in liquid. It sizzled and steamed as I pulled it out, holding the letter opener over a large metal pan on the table, letting it drop. I quickly placed the tongs back into the pot and took off the glove, turning back to the other two and the knife they were staring at.

It was steaming still and we had to wait a minute or so as we waved our hands at it, waiting for it to cool. "So it's a knife. Big deal." Kate said, when nothing happened as she picked it up.

Nearly skipping to the old couch, I waved them over, wiping my hands on my thick apron before grabbing a pillow and holding it by its corner. "Stab the pillow. Just hard enough to penetrate it."

Looking at Tanya and then me, Kate shrugged and lightly stabbed the pillow, gasping at the result. Fluff and stuffing was raining in the room, the shredded pillow smashing through the window on the other side of the room. "What _was_ that?" Kate said, looking at the knife incredulously.

"I infused," The two gave me a look and I rephrased it. "I _charmed_ the knife with my ability. Kind of like my ring, only instead of generating energy to be sucked up, it _releases_ energy, like me. So much energy, in fact, that it explodes out of the pillow and launches it off like so." I gushed. "Can you imagine?"

"That's so friggin' cool." Kate breathed.

Tanya looked speechless, standing there gaping. "How? What else can you charm?"

I shrugged, walking back over to the table, quickly jotting down the results into my notes. I'd be sure to put _that_ charm into Duchess. It'd be the first thing I ever added to her. "It is a specialization, Charmer that is, which not very many people nowadays take the time to learn. It's tedious and just the slightest mistake can throw off your charm, but anyone with a working knowledge of wiccan magic could do it. People would rather buy charmed items than make them though. It's a lot easier." I replied. "And as for your other question, from what I can gather, I believe I can charm just about any material object."

They both nodded, deep in thought. "And how long does the charm last?" Kate asked, eyeing the rest of the pillows.

Frowning, I took the knife, placing it back into the pot and into the liquid. "I'm afraid not very long at this point. One or two stabs. I've got to tweak a few things here and there, and find a way to prolong the charm."

Smiling to one another, the other two hooked arms and left to go return to what they were doing before hand. Leaving me to open up a vial of orange, thick liquid, adding a drop to the pot.

"I'll just leave this up here with our witchy sister." Tanya said as Kate grabbed her kitchen knife again, setting the broom against the wall on her way out.

Har har.

What a comedian.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

The forest was breathtaking in the winter, I came to realize later that week, after a whole night and half a day of non-stop snowing.

The enormous, freaking tall trees were covered in snow here and there, most of their green covered in white, a stark contrast to the dark brown bark of the trunk. The forest floor was also white, like a big downy blanket of snow was covering it. Mostly undisturbed until I crunched it under my feet as I walked farther along. The sky, though bright, was one large white/grey cloud. Icicles hung from different things, mostly branches from the trees, and when the wind blew, they lightly clanged together, sounding like chimes. Natural music. To top it off, it was snowing big white, fluffy snowflakes, that stuck to absolutely everything they touched.

Beautiful.

Though not as beautiful as the pixie I was looking for in them.

Taking a deep breath of the cool, crisp air of the forest, my gaze shifted to the left, searching the bushes and trees over there. Alice had called me earlier, after I had eaten supper with my sisters, and told me to come over to her place. I was happy to oblige, seeing as I could deny her nothing, and I had been thinking of going over there to see her anyways. She had said to wear something warm though. So, grabbing my long black wool coat, I wrapped a dark blue scarf around my neck a few times to protect it from the cold, then buttoned up my coat, grabbed a pair of fingerless black gloves, and laced up my combat boots.

When I arrived, I ventured up to Alice's room, hoping to find her there. Not that I had. What I did find, however, was a note on the bed in flowing script. It recited a piece of one of my favourite songs by my favourite band, Evanescence.

_I'll miss the winter_

_A world of fragile things_

_Look for me in the white forest_

_Hiding in a hallow tree - come find me._

And so I laced up my boots once more, putting on my scarf, my gloves and doing up my coat to trudge out to their back yard. I had been following her foot steps all the way into the forest, deep until I couldn't see the mansion anymore, and after a couple more yards, her foot steps just disappeared.

Since then, I had been wandering, looking for her here and there. I knew there was no danger of her being lost, since he was a common, experienced hiker and these were _her_ backwoods. There was also no real danger of me getting lost, because even if I did, I could always Shimmer back home. So I enjoyed the scenery, taking in all that was Forks, as I looked for my pixie. Every now and then, as the icicles jingles against one another, I'd hear an even more musical, more beautiful chime of faint giggles or laughter. And if I close my eyes and focused, I could feel her eyes on me.

So I humoured her and played this game of hide and seek.

You'd think after a while, that I would start to get cold. That I'd start getting sick or something like most would, but I hadn't. With all that energy running through me, everything in my body was a tad faster, including my metabolism and how I burned things, keeping my body temperature a few steady degrees higher than most. Not enough that someone would touch me and be able to tell; sure, they'd feel I was warmer than them, but not _how_ much. And it wasn't enough to effect my health negatively.

Alice was another story though. I was worried that perhaps she was getting too cold, or she would get sick. As much as I wanted her to have fun with her game, and as much as I enjoyed spending time outside in the woods like this, I didn't want her sick. But I hoped that if she were cold, she would call it quits and let me take her inside to the cozy warmth.

It had been a couple of minutes since I had heard the chime of her giggles or laughter, or even felt her eyes on me, and I began to worry slightly. Biting my lip, I glanced around myself, at all the trees, turning in circles. Just as I opened my mouth to call out Alice's name, I noticed something on a brushed off, little boulder. It was small, a little bigger than both my thighs, nearly hidden between a tree and a bush. On it, though, was a pad of sketching paper.

Crouching down to look at it better, I felt the air leave my lungs. I picked up the pad, standing up straight as I stared down at myself.

It was a pencil sketching of me. Walking through this forest. The soft lines, the bold lines, different shading, everything all the detail put into it, gave it so much depth. I couldn't believe she had drawn this, while we were out here even!, so perfectly. There was no mess ups, nothing had been erased, the precision in perfect detail. My shadow on the snow behind me, the footsteps I was following and making, the trees and their own shadows, the snowflakes falling. Even my irises were shaded differently to show the separate colours.

It brought tears to my eyes, it was so beautiful.

"Do you like it?" Alice's high voice asked in my ear, so soft and seemingly more fragile than even the thing icicles jingling together in the light wind.

Turning around, I went to express my..astonishment over the picture and talent she had. But I faltered once more, taking in more perfection. Alice's silky ink black hair peeked out under the white beret she wore, her bangs brushing her chin, the back of her hair down again like it was the night of Jessica's party. Her eyes were a shinning, brilliant gold, with deep, darker honey gold specs in them, surrounded by thick black lashes batting against her pale skin. The scarf she wore was a bright crimson red, wrapped around her neck once and hanging down to her knees. Her coat was a crisp white, not unlike the snow, with big black buttons. Her jeans skin tight and black, her boots white and lacing up high to her shins.

"So, do you?" Alice asked again, biting her lip as she looked to the sketch.

My brain took a second to gather itself and start up again. "The sketch, I l-l - it's amazing, Alice. You have so much talent, I can't believe you're not famous or something. Is that why you guys are rich? You sell paintings and things you make?"

Alice giggled behind her hand, shaking her head. "No, silly. Carlisle is a doctor, remember?" She said. "And sometimes Esme sells her house designs to homeowners who are looking to build new houses."

"Ah, so greatness _does_ run in families." I commented. Looking around, I gestured. "So why did you want to bring me out here? You're not going to cut me up into little pieces and feed me to the wolves, are you?"

Alice scoffed, shaking her head. "Nah, I've got more originality than that. I'd do something more creative, so out of the blue you wouldn't see it coming, something no stereotype could ever prepare you for."

"Even at murdering you've got to be the best, eh?" I smirked.

Alice grinned and winked at me. "I just wanted to sketch you out in the woods here. I looked out my window earlier and couldn't resist."

"I can understand that." I agreed, looking around at the trees that seemed to go on forever, reaching up to the heavens. "It seems almost otherworldly out here, away from everything and everyone else. I half expect fairies to start fluttering about, a giant to rumble the ground with each step, a wolf to howl up at the moon." Alice was looking at me an odd way, waiting for more. Smiling sheepishly, I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, I guess I just read too much. I've got a…thing for magical, mystical things like that."

Alice hesitated. "A thirst for supernatural?"

Grinning, I nodded. "Something like that."

Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she opened her mouth, pausing. "I…Edward will kill me if I tell…" She murmured quietly. "But I have something I need to tell you, Bella. That I want to tell you."

"Which is?"

"I…will tell you saturday." She finished, nodding to herself. "If you'll accompany me to a ball, that is." She grinned a wolfish grin.

It was my turn to falter. "Er, what?"

Alice twirled about, shaking the snow that settled on her off. "There is a Snow Ball held every winter in Seattle. The best of the best will be there, seems only right that the best of the best of the _best_, will too don't you think?" She asked. "Besides, there's going to be music and dancing and gowns and masks - Ooh! That means we'll have to go shopping, and we could rent a limo for us all to go in, and…" She continued listing all these _wonderful_ things while I stared off into the trees, internally shuddering.

Eh…more parties?

More people?

More _shopping_?

Batting her eyelashes at me, Alice grabbed my hand in both of hers. "Please?"

Sighing, I ran my free hand through my hair. "Ugh, fine. But don't expect me to enjoy myself."

Alice's grin just grew. "You'll have a blast, Bella, I promise."

I just stuck my tongue out at her in return.

Hooking her elbow with mine, Alice began to lead us back to the mansion. "You're going to have to start dragging me off to places _you_ like to do things _you _like so I won't feel so guilty." At my raised eyebrow, she elaborated. "Well, just a forewarning, but this most likely will be a common thing."

Scoffing, I looked down at her. "How do you figure?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't like being cooped up all the time. I like to go out and see the world and the things it has to offer. I like to live and have fun, and I want to share that with you."

"Well what if I go back to my semi-brooding, standoffish grey cloud ways? Would you still want to take me out and damper your fun?"

"Yup."

"And if I get worse? Get offensive and rude?"

Golden eyes rolled. "Bella, you avoid and push people away, keeping them at a distance. You're not rude and offensive towards them." She smiled. "You're actually very sweet."

Dramatically sighing, I looked at her again. "So basically it's inevitable and nothing short of scaring or driving you off with my ways will get me out of it?"

Once more, Alice nodded. "Pretty much, except for the part about driving me off."

"Huh?"

"Well if you haven't noticed, I'm quite fond of you. There's nothing you could do to scare or drive me off."

"Oh really?" I asked, my head getting dizzy at her bright smile she gave me. "I could be one of those creepy people on the subway that stare intensely at you, while conveniently sitting in a way that prevents you from seeing where their hand is, until your stop."

Alice shook her head. "Unless you ask me to, there's no getting rid of me, my Bella."

I donned a thoughtful look as the mansion came back into the view. Well, its roof. "Good to know, because I've been told that I'm pretty weird."

"And clumsy." She smirked.

Just as I was about to retort, the sky spun off somewhere as the ground flew up into my , it didn't hurt nearly as much as it normally would have because of the snow, but it still was much, _much_ colder. I wiped my hand over my face, getting off all the snow, and sat back on my knees. Alice was standing above me, her musical laughter filling up the entire forest as one hand held her stomach while the other was trying to stifle the noise coming from her mouth. "You think that's funny?" I growled, glaring at her.

She started laughing even harder that no noise was coming out, her eyes watering up though I was surprised no tears fell as she shook her head. Finally she gasped in a lungful of air. "Oh god! Bella…so fun…funny…you have no idea…" She managed between her laughter.

"Oh, but I will." She didn't even have time to attempt to question me before I tackled her into the know.

"Bella!" She gasped as I started burying her in snow as best I could. She was _still_ laughing though. But it was highly contagious because I could feel my lips pulling up in a grin and laughter leave me shortly.

"Still funny?" I cackled as she shook the snow from her face, her white beret whipping off to the side, her hair free and splayed out in the snow like a black halo around her face. She looked like an angel, laying in the snow. She quieted, sobering as she looked up into my face. "You're so beautiful."

"Bella…" She whispered, her cool breath fanning out over my lips before they pressed against hers. Her lips moved in sync with mine perfectly and I was sure there was no better activity than kissing Alice. Her small hands reached up, tangling in my hair, her scent filling me up as she pulled me even closer. Vanilla/chocolate, with that twinge of woods since we had been out here for a little while. I couldn't get enough, and groaned into her mouth when she tugged at my hair. Encouraged by the noise, she did it more, evoking a warm, tingly feeling that started to grow from the pit of my stomach, filling me up with its heat.

Still not having enough, I traced her bottom lip with my tongue, and she happily obliged, moaning as she met my tongue, sending a shiver down my spine. Her lips had been cold, even colder than my own, before when we started kissing. But, we _had_ been out there for a while and I _had_ covered her in snow. But I soon found out that the inside of her mouth was just as chilly. Which made this an odd sensation.

An incredibly pleasurable odd sensation.

One that I wasn't planning on ending until Alice herself pulled away, or at the very least, until one of my lungs exploded.

Which would be soon now.

But Alice skilfully caressed my tongue with her own and the burning pain in my chest was soon forgotten. Many things were forgotten, actually. The fact that my feet were getting numb, and that my hands had been buried in snow this whole time, or how Alice was also covered in snow.

Finally Alice pulled away though, reluctantly, leaving both of us breathing heavily. I wasn't sure if it was because the light was fading quickly or if lack of oxygen to the brain was making me see things, but her eyes were an endless pitch black. I watched her bite her bottom lip as I sucked in as much air as I could, trying to steady my heartbeat, but that was proving to be difficult with her so close still. An inch, maybe two, of space kept our lips apart.

Feeling the need to break the silence, to say something, I sat back up straight, straddling her. "So that w-w-was, um…"

"Amazing." She said, her voice low and rough. But it raised once more, as she looked at me questioningly, vulnerability in her black eyes. "Right?"

My eyes widened as I realized I had stayed quiet for some time after she had said amazing. "Oh! Yes, no it _was_ amazing. Amazing and wonderful and… I just, there's no words to describe it. I was trying to find some." I murmured.

She grinned up at me, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear. "Shall we get back to the others? Your nose and cheeks are going from pink to red."

Nodding, I helped her up and grabbed her beret while she brushed the snow off herself. "How are you not frozen? You don't even look fazed."

Alice hesitated, sending a wink over to me. "I lived in Alaska before we moved here. This is nothing."

Ah. Right. Alaska.

Yet somehow, as ridiculous as I was _probably_ being, I got the feeling that she was keeping something from me. That pause before she answered…

No. Bad Bella. I need to start learning to give people the benefit of the doubt, _especially_ Alice. I had no reason _not_ to believe her.

**XXxxXXxxXXxxXX**

**So, not quite as long as the others, I know, but hopefully you like it all the same. **

**Leave a review and tell me? ^^ Even yell at me for not writing a sleepover scene like most of you were expecting. I just couldn't think of anything noteworthy to write there. Well, **_**that's**_** not true, but it's too soon for that kind of thing. ;D They just had an innocent sleepover this time around.**

**-Paige.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; if me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing here writing about it when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '...' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

"EARTHQUAKE!"

The exceptionally booming loud scream was accompanied by, well, what I assumed at the time was, in fact, an earthquake. I hadn't had the chance to open my eyes before I was launched up into the air, landing on my face on the bed again, before jerked back up and landing on my side. This continued for eternal seconds, jolting and shaking me until my brain was spinning in my skull and my centre of gravity was thrown out the window. But finally it ceased, and I was trying desperately to keep the contents of my stomach in their rightful place as I yanked my arm out from under me and flipped over onto my back, letting out a groan.

I slapped my hand down onto the bedside table, grabbing my glasses and pushing them onto my face so I could see what damage this earthquake had done. Only to be met with Emmett's grinning face as he loomed over me, so tall he looked like a giant standing on my bed above me. I wasn't sure if it was because I just woke up, or _how_ I was woke up, but I was slow in putting the pieces together. Booming voice, supposed earthquake, no damage or screaming sisters, and the most important variable…Emmett's devious grin.

"One reason," I growled, my voice rough and scratchy from sleep. "Give me one _damn good_ reason to not kill you."

He was seemingly unfazed by my threat and my glare as he smiled wider down at me. "Because this is your fault?" He asked. At my confused face, he dropped to the bed, sitting indian style. "Well _you're_ the brilliant genius who agreed to go to the Snow Ball with Alice, and she's been talking non-stop about it for two days now. Convinced Rosie it'd be fun and that we should go as well. Then Rosie was talking about it to Esme when Carlisle overheard and asked her if she wanted to go as well, and before you know it, Jasper and Eddie Boy are asking your sisters too." He explained.

Groaning, I buried my head beneath a pillow. "So what's your problem? I thought you liked to party?"

"Oh, I do." He nodded when I looked back up at him. "I don't, however, like going on crazy long shopping trips for a tuxedo and a new dress for Rosie." A grin started pulling at my lips, knowing I wouldn't be the only one suffering through the shopping trip today. "So get up and get dressed; we've got to go."

"Wait, what?" I exclaimed, springing up to look at the clock. "Why so early?"

Emmett sighed, trudging his feet as he walked to the door. "'Cause it's a freaking long drive the the mall Alice and Rosie like." He said. "And this is going to take _all_ day."

I shuddered at the haunted look in his eye as he left.

A whole day of shopping…

So with that not so pleasant thought in mind, I grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom down the hall. I scrubbed and washed and lathered until every inch of me smelled like strawberries, one of my favourite smells the in world. One of my first too. Renee always smelled like strawberries whether because it was her shampoo and soap, her natural scent, or even maybe because she just liked snacking on strawberries all the time.

Creeping back down the hall in my towel, I paused when I heard a giggle from Kate's room. My first reaction was to gag and run off to my room, until I remembered it _was_ Kate's room. She still had her V-card and wasn't planning on giving it away any time soon, not even to Jasper. Not yet, at least. But the thought of waiting longer was becoming more and more ridiculous to her each day that passed.

So no, it wasn't her I had to worry about. It was Tanya who'd been between the sheets with two different boys. Both serious relationships, in her defence, and nice boys. But from what I could tell, Edward was in the same boat as Kate. He, a virgin, while his girlfriend not, and Kate a virgin, while Jasper wasn't. I wasn't sure what any of them were going to do about it, or if it even mattered to them.

I, myself, had been too scared to ask Alice. Well, too scared and too awkward to. I don't think my stutter would actually physically allow me to ask. But I also wasn't sure where I'd side on the issue. If Alice were like me, then that would make it extra special, right? We're both our firsts and everything. But then again, neither of us would have any experience, no one to necessarily lead or to look to if you're not quite sure what to do. But then again, if she wasn't a virgin, then I wouldn't be her first. Someone else would have. Someone else would have touched her like that, and she them. She would have been that close and intimate with someone that wasn't me.

And that only evoked a bitter, angry feeling in me.

Although, then she'd have that experience and things would most likely go more…er, smoothly.

So while the practical, rational side of me could see the advantages of her not being one, the more emotional side of me couldn't get passed that dark, almost painful feeling that would tug at my heart.

"Worries for another day." I murmured to myself, walking the rest of the way to my room. Glancing out the doors that led to the small patio, I noticed that it was snowing yet again, and grabbed a pair of jeans and a black zip up hoodie. I'd rather be warm than fanciful on a day like this.

Everyone was downstairs in the living room when I got there, well, everyone but Carlisle and Esme who had gone on a weekend trip and would be back in time for the Snow Ball. I was surprised that they'd leave their kids alone, what with a big fancy house like that, but then again, the Cullen kids didn't seem like the 'big bash' type. They were pretty mellow.

Anyways, Tanya was walking past me for the stairs with something in her hands and I glanced down to see a jar of slug slime in her hands. I quickly racked my brain as she skipped up the stairs, heading for the attic, and tried to remember if it was me who left that out. I couldn't remember using slug slime lately, and shrugged it off. With a tired huff, I slumped back into the easy boy in front of the TV, rubbing my tired eyes. Not missing a beat, a cool petite body slid into my lap and curled up at my side, accompanied with cool lips kissing the corner of my mouth. "Good morning, my Bella."

"Morning, Jasper." I grinned and Emmett boomed out a laugh until Rosalie slapped the back of his head. I opened my eyes to be met with a full blown Alice pout as she sat there with her arms crossed. Unable to resist cooing at that face, I kissed her cheek. "Good morning, Alice." Her pout faded into a smile.

"So if we're all ready to go, perhaps we should leave then?" Rosalie asked, her tone bored like usual as she inspected one of the little nick nacks on the little table beside the couch. Her golden eyes met mine before connecting with everyone else's as a blonde eyebrow arched. "No?"

Tanya was wearing a grin as she breezed into the room, winking at Edward. "Now we can really see whose car is faster; my mustang or your volvo?"

_**'I have a feeling the winners will be us.'**_ Kate thought with a mischievous tone. I quickly rifled through her thoughts, not bothering to suppress my grin.

Well, looks like they'll have to make an unexpected pit stop to top up their gas tank.

_'How long have you two been planning this?'_

Blue/green eyes met caught mine as Tanya's lips twitched. **'Ever since Edward insulted my poor baby, saying she'd lose in a race against his tin can of a car.'**

"If I must, then I guess I'll just have to _prove _that my volvo is faster, my love." Edward said with a crooked grin.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jasper looking between the three of us curiously before Edward followed his gaze. Clearing my throat, I attempted to wipe the small smirk off my lips. "Alright, well let's get going already."

"So we can win." Emmett boomed, getting to his feet and pounding his fist against his chest.

Rosalie sighed, getting to her feet as well. "I'm not sure your big head is going to fit, honey." She said, though her smile was a loving one. Not something I had grown accustomed to. I was still used to the glare or neutral face she had whenever me or my sisters were around. Alice was right though, she _did_ warm up over time, and this was a fine example of that.

Now only if she'd start smiling at _us _as well.

"See you when you get there." I said to Alice as we got up as well. She also had a mischievous glint in her eye that made me falter for a second. _'Wait, when's the last time you checked over __your__ car?'_

Tanya frowned at me as I looked over my shoulder quickly. **'Uh, two weeks ago? I haven't taken it in for a while, why? What's wrong with it?'** She started panicking, quickly making her way to the front door to slip on her shoes with Edward in tow.

"See you then." Alice chimed, pressing her lips to mine before twirling out the door and over to Edward's Volvo with the others.

I quickly laced up my combat boots and grabbed my wool coat, pulling on my fingerless black gloves and the hood of my sweater up. It was chilly today. Tanya honked at me as I locked the door, the Volvo already speeding off down the road. "Move your ass, Bella!" Kate laughed from the back seat, patting the space next to her.

With a final chuckle and a shake of my head, I got in, barely having time to close the door before Tanya raced off. "So was there anything wrong with the car?" I asked, settling into the seat next to Kate who rolled her eyes.

"No," She said. "But Tanya couldn't find her keys at first. Alice had to point out that the were in the ignition still, though with great reluctance." Ah, she must have seen when they came over. Sneaky little pixie was going to keep quiet and let us lose. "So Tanya said she'd buy her lunch today to make up for it."

Biting my lip, I hesitantly met Kate's eyes, nervously bouncing my knee up and down. "Er, have either of you guys ever seen the Cullens eat anything?"

Both Tanya and Kate sighed. "Bella," Tanya continued. "How many times do we have to tell you to not look for faults? You're just going to scare yourself off, hurting Alice. Do you want that?"

"No! I'd never want to hurt Alice, nor would I ever." I replied hastily. "I just… you don't find that _weird_? We've _never_ seen them eat or even drink something for that matter."

"Jasper said it was a special gluten free diet they were on so they usually eat at home because everywhere else, their food has gluten in it." Kate said.

"What about when we're over there? When Esme makes us dinner but they don't eat because apparently they already had?" I asked.

Tanya huffed, speeding up a little more in her anger. "So what, you think we should break up with them because they don't like to eat in front of us?"

"Of course not," I growled, glaring at the back of her seat. "I'm just saying that they're keeping something from us. I can feel it."

"And we're not keeping something from them?" Kate asked gently.

That was the second time that day that I faltered. "I… B-but that's different. We've got a good reason to keep this a secret."

Kate's brows furrowed. "And you know that they don't? Everyone has secrets, Bella, and what it comes down to is this; does it matter? Do you trust them enough to leave it be and give them time to tell you on their own? Do you care about them enough that no matter what the secret is, you're still going to be there for them?"

"W…" Yes, actually. To all of those things. No matter how much I didn't like things being kept from me, no matter how bad I wanted to know, I _did_ trust Alice enough to leave it be and let her tell me when she wanted to. And it didn't matter what that secret turned out to be; I wasn't about to leave her. I wasn't about to hurt her. I l… cared about her too much to do that. "Yes." I replied, my voice almost lost in the heavy silence of the car.

Kate smiled warmly at me, patting my knee. "Well there you go, Bella."

"Thank you." And I meant it too; this had actually helped. I had been getting anxiety over all of this, all my…suspicions, and this just… took it all away, got rid of it.

The rest of the car ride was more or less silent. Soon all the trees of the forest turned into buildings of Port Angeles until we passed it. There was one point, however, that we all laughed and pointed and Tanya honked like crazy. Up ahead we had seen a sleek, silver Volvo pulled in at a gas station with Edward sulking as he waited for it to fill. Emmett didn't look too pleased either.

By the time we had finally parked, I could have sworn we had been driving all day. Kate was out like a light on my shoulder and I was slumped up against the side of the car and window, dozing off every now and then myself. To say we were shocked when Tanya told us it had only been an hour and a half drive, would be an understatement. The Cullens came peeling in not a minute later, screeching to a stop next to our car and we all exchanged smirks.

Edward was trying not to glare as we all got out, though Emmett did no such thing. He blatantly glared at us all, crossing his arms over his broad chest. Tanya smiled at them both. "Now now, there's no reason to be mad; all is fair in love and war."

Running a hand through his hair, Edward let out a deep breath. Someone did not like losing. "This is neither love or war, my sweet."

"I beg to differ; I love my mustang very much and there was no way I'd let her lose." Tanya said with a smirk that had Edward's face softening into a smile.

Emmett just harrumphed and walked off into the giant mall. Alice's hand slipped into mine, our fingers intertwining as we followed him. "If I recall correctly, Edward fills up his tank every night on his way home." Alice whispered to me, though I could see Jasper's lips twitch up ahead of us.

"Which is odd," I said, putting as much innocence into my voice as I could. "Because I'm sure Tanya only had a quarter of a tank this morning."

Giggling, Alice cuddled further into my side as we walked. "Have I ever told you how glad I am that you three moved to Forks?"

"Not nearly as glad as I am." I replied, smiling down at her.

But then our moment was ruined as Tanya the Shopaholic turned around with that look she gets whenever she's in a mall. "Alright, I figured that the girls could go as one group, shopping for dresses and shoes and earrings and-"

"We get it." Kate said.

"While the guys can go off and get their suits and tuxedos and such." She finished. "And then we can all meet up afterwards so we can go to the mask store together."

Most everyone looked over to Alice who had a thoughtful look before nodding. "Yes, that sounds good." She agreed.

With a collective little groan, the boys turned to leave, Emmett wrapping a large arm around my shoulders. "Come on, bud."

My feet stayed in place though as I scrunched up my face. "Last time I checked, I had only Y chromosomes." I said.

Furrowing his brows, Emmett paused with me, looking over to the others. "Yeah, but I didn't think…do you _want_ to wear a dress?" He asked curiously. I reeled back like he slapped me, furiously shaking my head and he grinned. "That's what I thought, which makes you the dude in your relationship. Welcome to the dude club." He held his arms out wide to Edward and Jasper.

"But I'm still a girl." I murmured, following them again as we continued down the hall of the mall. After the guys passed on the first store that had fancy suits in the display cases because it was 'cheap material, newbie' I thought of something, looking up at Emmett. "Why do you call everyone bud?" I asked.

Both Edward and Jasper groaned. "No, leave it at bud." Jasper said and Edward nodded. "I will not go back to 'little buddy' again."

Little buddy?

Sighing, Edward turned around and started walking backwards next to Jasper. Figures, even walking backwards he was more graceful than me. "He used to call everyone Little Buddy before because, well, no one we've met has been as tall as him."

"My little buddies." Emmett chuckled.

"But he moved on and evolved to calling us Bud all the time, and I'd rather keep it at that then go back to what it was before." He finished.

Emmett was still grinning that grin of his that gave him dimples when I looked up at him again. I felt my lips pull up into a smile and a warmth spread through me. I had never had friends before, I could never really tell why; I just seemed unable to make or keep them, while Tanya and Kate cruised through best friends all the time. And sometimes… I don't know, sometimes you really need friends, when you're feeling lonely or … I don't know, you need friends. I guess you could call Emmett and I friends, we hung out, along with Jasper and Edward, but perhaps with time, I could make Emmett my best friend. Like Jasper and Edward were, or like Alice and Rosalie were.

"What's going on in that noggin of yours, Bella Boo?" Emmett asked, looking at me curiously.

Shrugging my shoulders, I looked away. "Nothing really."

With a shrug of his own, Emmett nodded and tugged my sleeve as we turned into a new direction to stop by Edward's favourite music store.

**XXxxXXxxXXxxXX**

"Ah! The Cullens, back so soon! How lovely to see you, come in come in!"

My eyes widened and I stepped back as the bald man raced over to us with a giant grin. I ignored Jasper's chuckle, stepping closer to him as the man stopped in front of us all. He was a fairly tall man, his hair shaved so close to his skin that from afar he looked bald, said skin dark with a tan. Possibly a spray on tan, seeing as this _was_ Seattle. His grey eyes were wide behind the purple framed glasses he wore, scanning my body. He revealed pearly whites as his grin grew, crossing one arm across his chest as his other hand reached up to play with the golden earring in his ear while he continued to scan me. But I wasn't too worried because a) he had measuring tap hanging around his neck, and b) his silk purple blouse was skin tight, along with the bottom flared suit pants and the shiny black shoes.

"And you've brought me fresh meat, lovely!" He said, ushering us in farther. "So what can I do you boys today? I assume something similar to your father, he called yesterday?"

Edward smiled and nodded. "Yes, thank you. The Snow Ball is tomorrow and we had last minute scheduling, so… a rush on all our purchase and adjustments would be appreciate, Barney."

"Of course!" This man, Barney, said and clapped his hands like he was excited. "Now you three run along and find your suits, I still have your measurements, unless of course you've gained or lost weight?" Jasper shook his head. "Off you go, then. And how may I help you, my dear?" He said, looking back to me.

Shoving my hands farther into my pockets, I stepped back when he stepped forward. "Uh, n-nothing. I'm just w-waiting for them."

Emmett peered around a rack of clothes, a stern look on his face. "No, you pick out a suit, Boo." He called before continuing his search.

My eyes took in all the suits, all the shirts and pants and shoes and belts, the cuff links, ties, blazers, gloves, laces, buttons, everything. How did people do this? How did they shop for so much stuff without getting dizzy? My head felt woozy and I was just _looking_! "I…uh… but they're a-all for guys and I'm not a d-d-dude…"

"Clearly." The man said, looking at my chest.

"Hey!" I crossed my arms over it. I knew it was harmless and he was just making a point and all, but still… I didn't want anyone looking at me there.

He rolled his eyes, stepping up close again. "No need to worry about that, I can alter it. It will hug every curve, accentuate everything, cling to the right places… No one will mistake you for a guy." He said, getting a thoughtful look in his eye as he scanned me again, already planning. "You'll be having to beat people off of you when I'm done; woman_ and _men."

Reluctantly, I let my hands drop. "Fine…"

He beamed. "Great! Now let's just… Edward could you please hold your friend still; she's a little squeamish." Barney huffed as once again I jumped back when he reached for me.

Giving me a look as he grabbed a few different pairs of pants, Edward sighed and I scowled. "_Fine_, but I'm telling Alice that you let another man touch me."

"And I'll tell her it was Barney. Problem solved." He grinned, waltzing off again.

Grumbling, I followed Barney father into his shop and out of the doorway/entrance, taking off my coat. It was a struggle not to jerk back and run off while he took measurements, and I think I did pretty good while I stood there, chewing on my cheek. Emmett came back every now and then to check in, along with Jasper who stayed because he had picked out his suit. He also mentioned that Alice texted him and told him to tell me that the colours I had to choose for anything were gold and black. He grumbled about her always picking first and taking the colours he wanted each time, but settled for green and black. That was good though, because Kate really liked green.

Finally Barney was done and sent me off to find a suit I liked while he put my measurements into the system after getting my name.

Jasper, Emmett, and Edward all waited out front while I went to pick out a suit, not wanting to influence me. Influence would have been appreciated though, because I had no idea what I was doing or looking for. Was I supposed to get a suit? Or a tuxedo? Did it matter? Would I be in trouble if I got the wrong one? I settled for a tuxedo in the end, since it _was_ a ball. But eventually I did find something, something I really liked actually, and brought it over to Barney who grinned and took it, saying he'd start on it immediately.

Then the four of us were off again to go waste time in the mall while we waited for the girls. I told them that we'd have to make a stop sometime during the day so I could get my hair touched up; the blue was starting to fade and my roots were getting long and noticeable.

**xxXXxxXXxx**

Edward's panicked eyes swept over the grounds as he crouched low behind the bench next to me. They met mine, frantically looking at me. "I'm getting you out of here, Bella, I promise. I'm so sorry," He said, freezing and looking back over the top of the bench for a minute while his hands settled on my shoulder. A second passed before he leaned back down, looking at me again. "I didn't know they'd take the challenge seriously."

I gripped his own shoulder, lightly shaking him. "Get it together, man. We're both getting out of here, just stay low and listen to me. When I say duck, you duck, when I say shoot, you shoot, and when I say run like hell, you run like hell."

He nodded, calming slightly. "Yes…yes, okay."

With that, I loaded another dart into the barrel of the plastic shotgun, peering over the top of the bench.

Kids were running around, screaming and laughing and playing. Some with toys, remote control vehicles, toy robots that lit up, soccer balls, etc. There were more kids on the indoor play structure father in the background, others running in and out of the blow up maze, some playing in the pin full of those plastic balls. Parents sat around talking to one another along the walls, watching their kids, some workers cleaning up toys that had been left on the ground.

And somewhere in there, amongst the children and adults, were Jasper and Emmett with their own dart gun artillery.

We had wandered into hear just to check things out, I mean, come on - it was a _giant_ indoor playground full to the brim with all kinds of toys. And offhandedly, Edward had picked up a dart gun and said that me and him could school those other two in a dart gun war.

Well, Emmett never was one to back down from a challenge and Jasper… Jasper took anything to do with war, whether it was books, magazines, games, etc, very seriously.

So now here we were, ten minutes later. Each with two plastic shot guns, magazines/chambers/whatever you call them, full and on our backs with the straps criss crossing our fronts, a plastic machine gun with full magazines in each hand, and plastic hand guns in our waist bands with darts filling our pockets. Immature maybe, but fun… heck to the yeah. I hadn't had this much fun in…well, ever really.

"So what's the plan?" Edward murmured, raising his head to look over the back of the bench with me.

Humming, I took everything in. "Well, I'm thinking they've already secured the slide as a base of operations. See those two twins down at the bottom of it? They've got shot guns too. New recruits." Edward grunted in acknowledgement. "So I'm thinking we can take the rocket up in the other corner of the room; it's small but there's only one way in - climbing up from the bottom."

"Good idea. How're we going to get there though?" He asked, gripping the plastic handle readily.

We could try making a run for it, but they might be waiting for us. Hmm.

"We need pawns." I replied, looking over the kids who were playing close by.

Edward snorted. "Bella! That's horrible."

"Shh!" I growled, but with a smile as I beckoned a couple kids over and gave them each a plastic gun that was stashed under the bench. "See those two kids who look the same by the slide?" They nodded. "I heard them saying that you guys here, playing with your trucks, couldn't shoot these guns as good as they could."

The little boys narrowed their eyes, one of them even pouting. "Nu uh! I can do it too!" One of them shouted as they ran off.

Edward grinned as I wiggled my eyebrows at him waiting for Emmett to call out to the kids to 'get back to their post' before we raced off. And yes, it was more than a little crowded, but at least we were safe. Though I wasn't sure if it was worth brushing against Edward's elbow every time I moved, because I was sure I bruised my side a couple times. The dude was bony.

In a matter of minutes, thirty four to be exact, we had a dozen or so kids in on our little game. They seemed to enjoy it almost as much as Emmett, especially the last showdown. Both sides charging at one another, darts flying, kids flailing about to see who could make their "death" look the most dramatic while others tried to stay "dead" and not giggle. It seemed _everyone_, kids included, were shocked when Edward managed to fire off a shot and get Emmett. The mountain of a man was rushing through the pin of plastic balls, getting nailed in the liver, grinning before bellowed out a wail, twisting his face up as he he fell down into the pin. A splash and explosion of multi-coloured plastic balls flew up everywhere before he was mostly buried by them again.

Unfortunately, Edward's awe-worthy move was short lived, because immediately after, Jasper pelted him right between the eyes. I didn't last much longer either, getting a dark in the side, the hand, my knee, and my shoulder by a bunch of kids.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

For the umpteenth time that hour, Emmett sighed and flipped another page in his magazine. We were sat side by side under hair dryers while we waited for our hair to dry. Well, mostly mine. Emmett's would be dry in no time, but mine would take longer.

Both Jasper and Edward had left us here, venturing off to go find other Christmas presents because Edward also liked to shop early. Emmett, having his fill of shopping for the say, stayed while I got my hair touched up. He even paid to get his washed three times because he was so bored. Now we were just waiting to dry and then we were headed to the food court. We had about an hour or two before we had to meet up with everyone else again and go get masks.

"You don't _have_ to be here." I said, looking up from my own magazine to his golden eyes.

He put his magazine down, shifting to look back at me. "I've got nothing better to do." I gave him a look. "Okay, I could find something better to do, but I want to be here." Again, I gave him a look and he rolled his eyes. "Fine, I don't want to be here, but I'm not ditching you. Happy?"

"Ecstatic." I replied, going back to my magazine.

Emmett sighed.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

My eyes grew twice in size as I looked at all the bags the girls were carrying. They each had to have had three bags _per_ hand. That's twenty four bags, at least. Damn, I was glad I went with the guys. Alice giggled as she danced over with her bags. "Don't look so shocked, my Bella, this is nothing compared to what we're used to."

Kate laughed, smiling as Jasper took the bags from her. "To be fair, not all of this is for the ball. Some bags are for Christmas."

"Et tu, Brute?" I asked with disappointment.

Kate just scoffed. "Geek." But I _did_ see Rosalie crack a smile. Huh. Another Shakespeare fan. Who would have guessed?

"Well, we need to put these in the cars before my fingers break." Tanya said, looking around. "Where's Edward?"

"Picking up a last minute gift. Not that he doesn't have almost two months still." I muttered with an eye roll.

Jasper and Emmett offered to grab all the bags and put them in the cars while the rest of us started for the store with the masks, Edward meeting us halfway there. Alice began humming a tune and dancing alongside me as we walked through the mall, swinging our hands. People would turn to look or stare, some smiling while others looked at our joined hands, frowning and murmuring something. A few times Rosalie tensed and her glare intensified until those people would look away, and I had to wonder if she could hear what they'd say.

And then I had to wonder what they were saying that was upsetting Rosalie so much. If it was also upsetting Alice, she didn't show it, continuing to twirl and skip and smile.

Finally I picked up on what someone said, the last part. "-gross." And I frowned, stopping.

Gross? What was gross? Alice would have told me if there was something on my face and hers was perfect like always. What could be gross?

Tanya bit her lip, stepping closer to Alice and I. "Come on, Bella. Just ignore them."

"I don't understand though," I said, looking over my shoulder at the older couple sitting on a bench. "Did I slop something on myself?" I couldn't _see_ anything.

With a nervous smile, Alice tugged on my hand. "No, you look great, my Bella. Let's just go."

I… what was wrong? Why were they acting like that. Frowning some more, I opened up my end of the sort of mind link between my sisters and me, trying to catch it in their thoughts.

**'block her off!'**

_**'Close minded jerks! There's nothing wrong with Alice and Bella's relationship… Wait, are you listening to me?'**_

My eyes widened. "They think _we're_ gross?" I gasped, looking over to Alice. "Like, us together?"

"Forget them, Bella." Edward said, glaring at the couple. "They're stuck in their ways. They don't understand."

Emmett and Jasper caught up then, smiling at us. "What's the hold up?" Emmett boomed, wrapping an arm around Rosalie.

Seemingly catching onto something, Jasper frowned. "What's wrong? What happened?" He asked Alice.

Had they hurt Alice's feelings?

The dark cloud that simmered over me at the thought had me jumping slightly, like someone dumped a pale of cold water on me. That was…new.

"Please, Bella. Let's just go." Alice said once more as I watched her, finally nodding.

It was a little quiet and tense after that, the others thinking about whatever it was they were thinking about, while I was trying to analyze that dark feeling.

But once more, the feeling was forgotten as we entered the unique shop. Masks were _everywhere_, up on the walls, in glass cases, shelves, hooks, _everywhere_. Everyone branched off, looks of wonder on their faces. Apparently this was the first time the Cullens had even been here. Alice disappeared on me one, and when I turned around she was there with a giant tribal mask of a long face, giggling like mad as I laughed at her.

Emmett ran by, chasing a squealing Rosalie while he wore an enormous mask that was made of bright colours and peacock feathers, with sparkles, and beads hanging from it. "Come on, Rosie! Give me a big ol' kiss!"

I examined all the masks closely, looking at the detail and designs in some of them, while questioning why someone would make them for others. All of them were beautiful in their own way…well, perhaps all of them but the peacock one Emmett wore. That one was a little odd.

"Boo, check it out!" Emmett gushed as he rushed over to me with a mask in his hands. "It's like the Phantom of the Opera's!" And it was, that same shape, taking up nearly the whole one side of his face, even with that moulded detailed eyebrow. Only this mask was all black, with a red boarder around the eye hole. I mentally pictured it with his tuxedo, and nodded. It'd look good. "Should I get it then?"

"Definitely." I agreed, smiling as he ran off again.

It was then that one mask caught my eye and I walked over to it. It was more like a regular mask covering both eyes, only it was…steampunk.

I think I might have died right then when I saw it.

It was a metal mask, light surprisingly, with different metal pieces layered on it, a spring, and a black, sturdy ribbon to tie it to your face. Simple, but beautiful. (1)

Alice must have heard a noise come form me because she skipped over and looked at it, her lips pulling up into a smile. "Well, it's like the shopkeep _knew_ you'd be coming today. Are you getting it?" I nodded furiously and she giggled. "Well, I think you'll like mine then."

She was right, I really liked it. It was a smooth, black, leather mask, shaped like mine. But it also had gold gears on in it as well, and I could have sworn my heart skipped a beat(2). Alice got that twinkle in her eye again, like she knew, and reached up on her tip toes to capture my lips, pulling back to smile at me. "I think I'm-"

"Get that mask! Do it!" Kate laughed while Tanya was gasping in air with a red face, tears running from her eyes. Emmett had jumped from behind a counter, out in front of Jasper with that damn mask on, growling, and Jasper flew backwards with a yelp, the look on his face priceless. Edward was leaning on a counter while he held his face in his hand, trying to gain control of his laughing.

Grinning, I turned back to Alice. "Come on, let's go show them our masks!" Alice smiled and hooked her arm through mine as we approached the others who were still falling over themselves trying to stop laughing.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

**Fluff fluff fluff. Shall it last? I suppose we'll see, won't we.**

**So, yeah, definitely check out the links below for Bella and Alice's masks. I nearly died myself when I found them. ^^**

**And, of course, REVIEW! :D**

**-Paige.**

**(1) http:/2(.)bp(.)blogspot(.)com/_ 1AunV0G3N_ w/TMNHzS_ HTPI/ AAAAAAAAA7I/ ZBo4L1WWgxw/ s1600/ Steampunk_ Metal_ Mask_ by_ Diarment(.)jpg**

**(2) http:/ cn1 (.)kaboodle (.) com /hi/img /c/0/0/4/f/ AAAADFC6 - ZIAAAAAAAT3TA (.)jpg?v = 1226526883000**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; if me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing here writing about it when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '...' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

*REPOSTED FOR THE LINKS AT THE BOTTOM I MESSED UP BEFORE…SIGH*

BELLA

"I've got a bad feeling in my gut." I murmured.

Emmett looked over at me with a raised eyebrow. "About what?" He asked.

We were both out in the back yard of the Swan manor. Today was the day of the ball and - …never thought I'd be saying _that_ sentence. Anyways, it was today so everyone was getting ready. And by everyone getting ready, I mean all the girls, minus me apparently, were all getting ready at the Cullen mansion while all the dudes, including me apparently, chilled out here at the manor until we had no time whatsoever to get ready.

Not feeling like staring at the TV with Jasper and Carlisle, and not wanting to go read in the library like Edward, I locked the attic door and zipped outside for some fresh air. Emmett had soon joined me, complaining about being bored and following Kiki as he flew out the open window in my room and perched on one of the many trees in the back yard. And now, twenty some odd minutes later, both Emmett and I were swinging on tire swings.

Just like the manor back in Phoenix, there was an incredibly old, incredibly tall and big tree right smack dab in the middle of the back yard. And on three of the many enormous branches reaching out away from the trunk, had tire swings hanging from them. We had been swinging in silence for a while, having a competition of who could swing highest once or twice.

With a sigh, I looked up at the grey sky. "I don't know, really. I promised I would tell Alice something afterwards, so maybe that's it."

"Then don't tell her?" Emmett suggested, his massive form shaking his entire branch with each swing.

I mulled this over, weighing the pros and cons of it and lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. "There's an option… but I'm fairly certain I'll explode if I don't. Secrets are damn hard to keep from Alice."

He nodded, for once looking serious. "Secrets are definitely hard to keep. But," He grinned again. "I think you're over reacting. Everything will be fine; I'll be there, remember?"

"Ah, yes. Everything _has_ to be fine if you're there, eh? _Nothing_ could _possibly_ go wrong around you." I replied sarcastically. "Need I remind you of the closet door?"

Tanya and Kate were going to be really confused when they got back home later to see a giant hole where the closet door used to be. I mean, he even took some of the door frame!

"That wasn't my fault! Louis came out of nowhere and I thought I was going to step on him!" Emmett said quickly.

True; Louis wasn't allowed outside, mostly because he liked getting into trouble, but also because we were _right_ in front of the woods and there were wild animals in there a lot bigger than he was. The little stinker liked to attempt sneak escapes if you weren't paying attention. And watching Emmett flail about trying not to step on him _was_ comical.

Glancing at the watch on my wrist, I huffed. "You think we should go get ready now?"

Furrowing his brows, Emmett tried to glance over at my watch. "How much time until we've got to pick the girls up?"

I quickly glanced back down at it. "Er, half an hour, forty five minutes?" I replied and he nodded with a huff of his own.

Carlisle was the only one ready when we got back inside. He smiled brightly at us, muting the TV and got to his feet. Carlisle was a classic man, and went for the classic look it seemed which suited him well. His hair, a light blonde, was slicked back, his features sharp and strong, but kind and soft still somehow. His golden eyes shone brightly, the lightest of all the Cullens I had gathered over the weeks. He wasn't as tall as Emmet, nor as built and thick as him; but Carlisle was a solid man. He wore the white dress shirt with the black bow tie, black dress pants and shiny black dress shoes with a crisp, black dress coat. The cuff links on each cuff were golden as well, matching his eyes, making him look even more dashing. I nodded my approval and he smiled kindly.

"You clean up nice, pops." Emmett boomed out, slapping a hand to Carlisle's shoulder. It was odd to watch; usually I tumbled forward a foot or two and had the air knocked out of me from that little action Emmett seemed to do a lot, whereas Carlisle hadn't even budged. Like I said; a solid man.

Carlisle, smiling fondly at his largest son and his goofy antics, nodded. "Thank you. I suggest you go do the same; you know Rosalie doesn't like waiting." His amused golden eyes trailed over to me. "And Alice dislikes it even more."

You didn't have to tell me twice. With a quick little mutter of nothing comprehensible, I darted up the stairs and to my room, closing the door. A great sigh heaved my shoulders as I slowly stalked over to the bed, glaring at the articles of clothing that Tanya took the liberty to lay out for me before she left with Kate.

At least there was one up side to all of this. My eyes traveled over to my dresser where my mask lay and the corner of my mouth curved up in a smile.

So, with an almost uplifted mood, I quickly started getting ready, trying to ignore my gut twisting in my stomach. Barney was right; everything, so far, _did_ cling to every curve I had. The black dress pants were form fitting, that was for sure. My cheeks flushed as I picked up the black lace bra Kate had bought for me while we had been out the previous day, and I quickly slipped it on.

"Damn you, Barney!" I cursed quietly, realizing that the buttons didn't go all the way up to the collar on the black blouse. They stopped short, just high, or rather low, enough to give me cleavage and I felt my face heating up once more. I'd have a nose bleed before leaving this room, surely.

But, I had to hand it to him; so far just the pants and the shirt looked good. Who knew material clinging to the right places could make you look like this? I smiled once more, a little, and tucked the shirt in, clipping on the gold suspenders onto the pants and sliding them over my shoulders. At least now I was starting to feel a little more like myself again with the suspenders.

Louis, who was laying on my pillow, yawned and stretched, his big belly flopping out. I cooed, grabbing the gold tie and quickly tied it up, having to loosen it enough so it hung low down to where the buttons did up to. The vest was next, one of my favourite pieces. The back of the vest was silk and black, almost looking shiny, while the front was gold to match the suspenders and tie, with two little pockets on the front on each side. I slipped it on, doing it up and rolling my eyes at the fact that it, too, clung to me like crazy, accenting my shape and pushing my chest up. Honestly.

My brows furrowed as I looked around the room, biting my lip. "Louis, what did you do with my shoes?" I asked the sleeping cat, going over to my closet and looking inside.

Nope.

I walked back out and looked around, chuckling when I remembered where I had put them. I dropped to my knees when I got to the bed again and reached under until I felt them, yanking out the shiny black heels. Yes, damn heels. Freaking Tanya, freaking Barney, freaking fashion. At least they were high heeled boots. I would have died had they been open toed or shoe like…_things_ like the ones Tanya wore nearly every day.

"You ready, Bella?" Edward knocked on my door.

"Yeah, just a minute!" I called back, zipping up the zipper on the sides of the boots and took a few test steps. When I didn't fall and break my neck, I walked over to my dresser, setting my glasses down and popped in my contacts quickly, grabbing my mask and my dress coat before heading for my door.

Edward's eyes brightened as he looked at me, smiling that crooked smile of his. "You look beautiful, Bella." He said.

Blushing again, I looked down to my feet. "Er, thanks. You, uh, you too." I muttered.

He _did_ look good, but complimenting people wasn't my thing. Complimenting, talking to, looking at, being near people…all not my thing.

He chuckled softly, running his hands through that unruly bronze hair of his. His eyes were a burning amber tonight, it seemed, his features, like Carlisle, sharp, though they didn't have that kind softness. Not that Edward wasn't kind; he was a sweetheart really, but he didn't really have that look. He wore something more similar to me; the black dress pants and black dress shoes, with a white button up underneath. Over that he wore a deep red vest that matched his tie, and a black dress coat over that as well, with silver cuff links.

He grinned in return, offering me his elbow with a flourish. "Thank you."

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed his elbow and let him escort me to the washroom where I still had to quickly do my hair. He stood there, waiting for me while he leaned against the bathroom door frame, watching me work. It wasn't anything exciting or something like that; I was just curling my hair with the curling iron. After a minute or two, I glanced at him sideways. "What's up, Edward?"

He slid his hands into his pockets, rolling his shoulders. "Nothing; just a little nervous."

Must be something in the water. "About the ball? Can you not dance either?" I asked curiously. Edward nervous? It was almost as uncommon as a nervous Alice, which I had yet to see. Edward seemed too cocky to be nervous. Jasper? Maybe. Emmett? … No, Emmett didn't take anything seriously enough to be nervous about it.

Edward shook his head, his bronze hair whipping around, forcing him to run his hand through it again to bring it back up out of his face. "No, I can dance. It's just… I'm going to tell her something. Two somethings, actually." He chuckled. "It's funny; the one something I _should_ be nervous and scared about isn't nearly as nerve wracking as the other something."

My brows furrowed as I frowned, trying to keep up. It was in vain though and I gave him a confused look. "What on earth are you talking about, man?"

He chuckled again, looking down to his feet with a smile. "I'm going to be telling Tanya a secret of mine. And I should be really worried about how she will react to it; I should be terrified. But I'm more concerned about how she will react to me telling her I love her." He replied.

And cue my jaw hitting the floor. I stood there, gaping at him with a hot curling iron in my hand, about to curl the last uncurled lock of my hair. "What?" I breathed. "You l… you what?"

He grinned at me, that nervousness he was talking about dancing behind his eyes. He breathed out shakily and nodded. "I love her. I love Tanya." He said again, more firmly.

"But…so soon? How – how do you know it's, uh, you know?" I asked, my mind reeling. He felt that way for Tanya? And after such a short amount of time?

Edward's brows furrowed as he looked at me curiously. "Can you not say love?" He asked.

"You're changing the subject." I quickly shot back at him.

A smirk pulled at his lips. "Ah, yes, forgive me. What was our topic again?" He asked with an amused tone. My eyes narrowed, completely serious as I felt my chest tighten. Edward seemed to pick up that this wasn't funny, nor a game. He quickly backtracked. "I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't mean to upset you; I'm so sorry." He said hastily. "I shouldn't have – I'm sorry."

When I said nothing and just continued to stare into the sink, things got a little tense. Edward apologized quietly once more before leaving the washroom and heading down the hall. I continued to stare at the porcelain sink, almost able to see my reflection in its shiny surface. Taking a deep breath, I blinked away the sting of tears and got back to curling my hair.

Edward was still nowhere to be seen when I left the washroom and went to the living room, laying my dress coat over the arm of the couch and put my mask on top of it. Carlisle was standing by the window, admiring the garden along the side of the house, while he fiddled with his white mask in his hands. Jasper entered the room quietly, so quietly I almost didn't notice, and offered me a small smile.

My lips turned up as my shoulders relaxed with the cloud of calm that always seemed to follow Jasper around. Honestly, I could be feeling like utter crap and Jasper would walk over and I would be fine and dandy right after. It was almost weird. I'd be concerned if I didn't always feel so calm and relaxed around him.

Jasper wore something similar to me. He had the shiny black shoes and the crisp black dress pants, though his had dark green pin stripes, along with his coat and black button up. His vest was a dark green as well, along with his bow tie, matching the pin stripes. His hair was in its usual fashion; a mixture of wheat blonde and honey gold, curly and wavy. His eyes were dark, so dark they looked almost black in different lights. He was already wearing his mask; black with a thin green border around it.

"Huh." He commented, looking me over. I raised my eyebrow and he smiled again, holding up his hands. "Nothing; I just pictured something else when I found out you would be wearing a suit like us. I didn't think you'd look so… feminine."

"Yeah, well… your mom looks feminine." I muttered back.

He laughed quietly to himself. "I should hope so; I don't think Esme would enjoy looking masculine."

My cheeks burned again as I whipped around to look at Carlisle. "I didn't mean – I wasn't saying that!"

Both of them just chuckled at me again and I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. Edward entered the room, looking at me apologetically again before quickly looking away. "Shall we get going?" He asked the room.

I looked around, noticing the absence of the giant. "Where's-"

Speak of the devil… Emmett literally slid into the room in those shiny black dress shoes that have almost no grip on the bottom. He flashed me a dimple grin, straightening up and flexing his arms. "Ha! I could put Double Oh _Shame_ to…er…shame, any day!" He boomed. His little mix up burn there made the comment lose some of its oomph though. He wore a pair of black dress pants as well, with a dark blue button up and a black bow tie, with a black dress coat as well. His own cuff links, that Jasper was missing though looked well without, were crystal looking, shining brightly. His mask, which was on, was a Phantom of the Opera looking one, only there was a small border around the eye that was a blue that was a tad lighter than his shirt. His dark hair was slicked back, though it still had those few rebellious curls in it still; his eyes a bright gold.

"Alright, let's go; the limo has been waiting for a good five minutes now." Jasper said in his southern drawl, heading for the door. I sighed one last time, pulling on my own dress coat, fitting snugly, and slipped my phone and ring into my pockets, grabbing my mask and heading for the door.

The inside of the limo was enormous. Honestly, from the outside it looked long and all, but on the inside I could have sworn I was sitting in…well…something long, like a space ship or a school bus or a limo or something! I had been a little worried we wouldn't all fit; what with there being ten of us altogether. That was a heck of a lot of people. But there was plenty of room in there for us all. The limo driver rolled the blocker thing between the back and the front with him down, offering us all a smile. He introduced himself and quickly went over the destinations and everything again to make absolute sure while Carlisle nodded along and agreed with them. There was one tiny little awkward moment when his green eyes landed on me, widening slightly before they stayed put. Too long. And not on my face either. Emmett cleared his throat, the glare on his face making the driver turn white and quickly roll the blocker back up.

And then we were off, driving down the street to the Cullen's mansion where the girls were waiting. My knee bounced nervously as I wiped my palms on my thighs again, getting the sweat off. Breathe, Bella, breathe. It's fine. We're okay. No need to worry until _after_ the night is through. So just have fun and dance and be with Alice normally until after the night is through and the secrets are spilled.

Jasper, staring out the window, looked down at me as I was sitting beside him, and offered me a comforting smile while patting my knee. I smiled back up at him, feeling better and calmer, until we turned into their twisting driveway. Then even Jasper couldn't keep me calm. He opened the door, offering me his hand with a smile. "Ready?"

Swallowing the nervous lump in my throat, I nodded jerkily. "I suppose, yes." I answered, taking his cold hand and got out of the limo, followed by the others.

The door swung open when we reached the porch, Esme beaming at us all. I smiled back, accepting the warm hug she pulled me into. Her hair was up in a fancy bun thing with a few curly wisps hanging down, sparkles in it and lightly brushed on her cheeks. Her dress was more of a dress than a gown, surprisingly, more playful. It was an elegant looking line style white dress with a square neckline and a sleeveless bodice. A black bow adorned the bodice which was also black, all zipping up in the back. Black open toed heels finished the outfit, strapping up around her ankles, silver jewellery around her neck, a wrist, and a few rings.

Simple but elegant and pretty.

"You look wonderful, Bella." Esme exclaimed, twirling me around in front of her to look.

Blushing once more, and most likely not for the last time, that night, I smiled bashfully. "Thank you, you do as well."

She smiled warmly at me. "Alice is up in her room picking out her own jewellery; go on up."

Nodding, I offered her a smile once more before ducking out of the hall. There was movement in the corner of my eye and I had half a second to brace myself before Kate launched herself at me, wrapping me up in her arms. "Bella! Look at you; you look so pretty! I can't believe it - I thought you'd look all…well…you know…"

"Masculine?" I asked dryly.

"Yes, but you don't!" She grinned.

Kate herself looked quite pretty as well. Her dress was a knee length, apple green, sleeveless cocktail dress. It looked so pretty with the black bow tied around her middle, the big necklace around her neck. Black with an emerald green crescent moon, matching her rings. Emerald green heels adorned her feet(1). Her light blonde hair was pulled back in ties and clips, but still cascading down her back. Her green and brown eyes twinkled as she smiled, skipping passed me and into Jaspers arms while he lifted and spun her around.

So I continued on to the stairs, feeling my heartbeat start to pick up again as I got closer and closer to Alice's room.

Only to stop again as another door swung open. Rosalie strode out, pausing as she saw me in the hall with her. Her golden eyes quickly scanned me up and down, her lips pursing as her gaze settled on mine. It was quiet as I hesitantly and quickly looked over her as fast as I could, hoping it was quick enough that she wouldn't notice. Her dress was a deep, vibrant blue, flowing low down to her ankles. It had tiny thin spaghetti straps, tight at the top. A large purple fowler, one I couldn't tell if it was real or not, was on the front right under the middle of her chest(2). Her golden blonde hair fell in large ringlets down her shoulders. Her thin necklace and bracelet looked like diamonds from where I was standing, and judging by how rich the Cullens were; maybe they were real? The open heels on her feet where a light silver, matching her jewellery.

The silence started getting uncomfortable and I shifted nervously, smiling sheepishly. Her tone, matching her neutral face, rang out loud in the quiet hall. "You look nice." She commented lowly before gliding past me and down the stairs.

"Bella, Bella, Bella, Bella." Tanya sang, skipping out of Edward's room at the end of the hall.

A little slap sounded as I buried my face in my palm. "Oh come on!" It was like there was a ceaseless line of people I had to see before I could get to Alice. Honestly, it was taking a year to get to her room at this point!

Tanya, unaffected or oblivious, danced over to me, spinning us both around and around a few times while she grinned. "Aren't you just _excited_ right now?" She laughed.

"Yes, indeed." I murmured with an amused smile. I made sure I had the little block up between our link so she wouldn't hear what Edward told me earlier. I actually was kind of excited, and scared, for her.

"And my dress? How do you like it?" She asked, twirling in front of me.

Glancing over her, I nodded. "Gorgeous, like always Tanya." Over the years, Kate and I had become conditioned to immediately responding with the word 'gorgeous' somewhere in there whenever she asked how she looked.

She did though. Tanya was in a vintage red halter dress that had a tie around the neck without sleeves, hugging her torso and started belling out at the waist all the way to the end(3). It wasn't nearly as fancy or eye catching as I would have thought; Tanya liked to go big or go home. She was always the first to pick out something that would have people stopping and doing a double take; this was almost worrisome, really. Even her hair was simple; soft and wavy, flowing down her back; her makeup light instead of bold like usual.

Apparently reading my mind without the mind link even, Tanya smiled softly. "Thought I would try something different tonight." She muttered quietly, looking down at her red heels, a scarlet tint to her cheeks. "I don't want everyone else's attention; I just want Edward's."

Cooing, I sent her on her way downstairs to said boy who was waiting before finally making my way to Alice's room. Hesitating for a second, I raised my fist up to knock. "Come in." Alice's wind chime voice called from the other side before I could connect my knuckles with the wood of her door.

I took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping in, closing it quietly behind me. Her natural vanilla/chocolate scent engulfed me and I took another deep breath, the corners of my mouth curving up. My gaze raised to look for Alice, my eyes growing so wide I thought they'd fall out of my head when I found her. Alice bit her lip, holding back a smile and ducked her head.

A-maz-ing. Breathtaking. Heart-stopping. Mind-blowing. Anything-ing. Everything-ing.

Her dress was the most gown-like dress I had seen all night. It was strapless as well, tight and hugging her chest and torso before it, too, started belling out all the way down to the floor. There were two layers I could see, the very underneath one lace and brushing the floor. The next was a different material, one I couldn't name but kind of wanted to feel, and felt my fingers twitched. It was kind of sparkly as well, catching the light here and there making her shine. A small bow tied around her middle as well, bringing everything together(4). Her jewellery was golden, matching her dress; a small, thin necklace with a black heart dangling from it just under her neck, smooth, golden rings on her delicate fingers, and a golden chain around her slender wrist. Her heels were out of sight, though tall enough to make her a hair or two shorter than me.

Alice's face went from flattered to concerned as she stepped over to me, reaching out. "Bella, breathe." She said, slightly panicked.

A ragged air filled my lungs, easing the burn from lack of oxygen in them, and I cleared my throat. "Sorry," I croaked. "You're painfully beautiful."

Her golden eyes twinkled as she looked down again, looking back up through her thick, dark lashes at me. "Thank you. You look stunning yourself." She said, her eyes tracing over me.

Moments passed and I awkwardly shifted, never having thought I'd have to say what I was about to say to another girl before. "Um, Alice; my eyes are up here." I murmured, my cheeks burning with a blush.

And when she met them, I swear hers were pitch black. Honestly; one second a vibrant, shining gold, and the next an endless black. I gulped, not out of fear either, and quickly looked away. "S-so, uh, are you…excited?" My mind caught up to what I said and I quickly added onto the sentence. "A-about the d-d-dance, I mean! The dance, are you excited about i-it. Not about me; not that you _shouldn't_ be, because we _are_ dating and if you weren't that would be bad. Well, not _bad_ bad; it would complicate things and I wouldn't feel so good. But I could take comfort in the fact that you liked me for me and not for my looks then. Not that you only like me for my looks either, if I even have any, and-mmph."

Her cool lips captured mine, ending my nervous rambling. Thank god; I thought I would never be able to stop.

She pulled back, just enough to look into my eyes and smile softly at me. "Calm down, Bella. I _am_ excited about the dance _and_ you." She giggled as I blushed more. "Remind me to thank Barney the next time we're at the mall." She commented, stepping back and checking me over once more before taking my hand in hers and dancing into the hall.

Smiling brightly, I followed her down the stairs to where the others were gathered. "I like your hair down like this. I mean, I like it spiked a lot, too, but I like special occasions like this."

Alice flashed me a smile over her shoulder. "Thank you."

"Finally you're ready. We've been waiting forever!" Emmett complained. "Let's _go_! I wanna get my groove on."

Snorting, I raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. He nodded furiously at me and I raised my free hand, backing down. Alright; he wanted to get his groove on.

"The limo's waiting, so we can go if everyone is ready." Esme commented, looking out front window.

Everyone looked around at one another, nodding before we headed out. Like I predicted; there was plenty of room in the limo for everyone, though that didn't stop Alice from curling up into my side. She smiled brightly up at me when I looked over, lacing our fingers on my lap to play with my hand while everyone talked to one another on the ride there.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

Fantastic. The Snow Ball was simply fantastic. The building was enormous, one I hadn't ever seen in Seattle before. Not that I had ever done much wandering in Seattle to have seen many buildings there, but still; I wouldn't have expected this building to be there. It was a victorian style, even the outside; pointed and peaked tops, stone walls, large oak doors, lanterns on the outside lighting up the small walk to the front doors. Apparently this place was a museum of some sort most of the year, but for Halloween and the Snow Ball, most everything was cleared out or locked up so the building could be used for dancing.

The inside was just as magnificent as the outside; polished wooden or marble floors; grand staircases and wondrous chandeliers. Famous and not so famous but old looking portraits lining the walls; more lanterns everywhere you turned giving everything a glowing kind of look, though still kept everything brightly lit. There were balconies; large and small where people would stand and look out at the gardens below, or dance slowly away from the crowds, secluded.

The people were fascinating to watch. Everyone in their own gowns, all different colours and textures, different styles and lengths. Their masks, ranging from exotic to plain. Talking, laughing, dancing, kissing, observing. So many people.

We had all looked at one another again, excited, and put on our masks before separating to go off and dance.

And dance we had. Alice was a machine! Honestly, we had dance for two hours straight; all the slow songs, the faster ones, the complex ones where she laughed at me and had to lead me around because I was completely lost. And, oddly enough, I don't think the smile left my face for one second the entire time.

Emmett and Rosalie had spun past us a few times, and it never ceased to amuse me to watch as the men around us stumbled half way through their dance step to gawk and stare at Rosalie, only to try and scramble away and cover it up by the time Emmett swung back around to glare at them.

Only, it wasn't so funny once I noticed them starting to stare at Alice too, their gaze lingering just a little while _too_ long. Alice could tell, but the little stinker enjoyed it, I think. Her smile would curve up just a tad more, a chuckle escaping her lips before she would twirl us away.

At long last, I finally was able to huff and puff my way out onto one of the larger balconies, though this one was empty when we got there; what with it getting colder now that it was so late. But I was hot, man, incredibly hot from all the dancing; flushed in the cheeks and panting. Taking a breath, I looked up at Alice, leaning back against the stone railing. "How is it you're not even fazed? Honestly, you're the most fit person I've ever met." I laughed, shaking my head.

Alice, looking out at the lit up city, put her hands on the stone railing, leaning forward and turned her head just enough to meet my eyes. She bit her lip, looking down for half a second before looking back up. "Bella, you remember how I said there was something I wanted to tell you?"

Furrowing my brows, I nodded slowly. "Yes… I remember."

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes again. I stood there, thoroughly confused, and waited a minute or two before she opened them again. Apprehension and worry filled those golden eyes as she walked over to me, standing in front of me while she watched her feet.

She seemed so nervous; not something I was used to, so I took her petite, cold hands in mine, offering what comfort I could. "Hey, what's wrong?" I asked.

Alice shook her head, sighing. "It's just… when I tell you; it might change things. You might not feel the same way about me afterwards." She said quietly, the light breeze almost carrying her voice away.

"That's not going to happen." I replied firmly, ducking to catch her look so she could see I meant it.

Her lips were on mine after that, moving almost desperately. I could feel her nervousness and worry in it, but also all her feelings for me; how much she cared for me, that burning passion, how deep her feelings were, and I was shocked that she cared that much about me. That I meant that much to her. I had never meant that much to anyone.

Too soon, she pulled back and I gasped in air. Her eyes searched mine for a second before words came spilling from her mouth, too quick for me to register. Finally, she took another breath and paused, looking up at me very seriously. "I'm a vampire."

…

Er, what?

…

Vampire? Like…vampire? Suck your blood, turn into bats, burn in the sunlight vampire?

Was she serious? She looked serious, but she had to be joking, right?

Was this some sort of joke that Tanya and Kate put her up to because they knew I was going to tell her about us?

I looked around us for my sisters, not catching sight of them anywhere, before looking back to Alice who was even more nervous than before, watching my reaction.

Seriously…vampire…Alice was a vampire…

"Um… I just… hold on…er…vampire…" My mind just didn't want to wrap around that. _Vampire._ A whole other species. It shouldn't be so hard to buy, since I, myself, was a supposed mystical myth. But still… it was different when it was someone else, some_thing_ else too.

Alice bit her lip. "You don't believe me?"

Shaking my head, I ran my hand through my hair. "No; I do. I just…you know…registering it and everything still." I replied, somewhat numbly.

Alice waited a few more moments before she started pacing, running her own hands through her own hair. "I knew it; I've freaked you out. You're scared, aren't you? Or you think I'm crazy? I shouldn't have said-"

I reached out, gently grabbing her hands and pulled her back to me. She complied, wrapping her arms around my neck and buried her face in my shoulder, hugging me tight like I was about to run off out of her life forever. Hardly the case. At all. I was quite attached to the little pixie. "I'm not scared, Alice, nor do I think you're crazy. That would be the pot calling the kettle black, really. I just needed a minute to grasp everything."

She melted into me, a relieved sigh escaping her as she rained kisses up and down my neck, murmuring thank you's over and over. She tilted her head and I pressed my mouth against hers again, kissing her fiercely. I couldn't help the moan that left me as she plunged her tongue past my lips, feeling her shudder against me, pressing into me more.

Her hands were in my hair again, gently tugging and pulling me even closer. Oxygen was starting to become necessary but the thought was soon shot out of my head as massaged my tongue with hers. I squeezed her tighter to me, feeling my lungs burn.

Finally I pulled back, gulping in more air while I rested my forehead against hers. "Stupid air…stupid lungs…" I whispered, chuckling slightly when Alice giggled.

She paused though, her brows furrowing as she looked up at me. "The pot calling the kettle black? What did you man by that?"

Right…

Standing up straighter, I looked over to the other side of the balcony. "Yeah… I, uh, I may have a little something to tell you too."

She snorted. "What, you're a werewolf? Don't worry; I've met a few of those during my years." Alice's smirk was playful and I half smiled.

"Not a werewolf, exactly. More…um, more along the lines of a Witch. Because, well, I'm a Witch."

her. My secret. My biggest, darkest secret ever; the one I had been hiding and keeping since I could speak. Now it was out there; unable to ever be unheard.

The only question now was; how would _she_ react?

**XXxxXXxxXX**

**So **_**that**_** was a long time coming. -insert dirty joke-**

**Seriously though; I don't know why that took me forever. Mreh.**

**So review, please; should I throw more drama into the whole Telling Of Secrets or let it stay chill like it's been? Wondering about Bella's Crazy Stalker Of Death? Things you want to happen? Things you don't want to happen? Want to say hi anyways just for the heck of it? REVIEW.**

**-Paige.**

**P.S Unfortunately, I could not find anything close to or exactly like what the boys and Bella are wearing. Nor Esme. But I've got the other girls', so check out the links because when it comes to fashion-y-crazy-ness I suck.**

**(1) - http(:)/ nexteve(.)co(.)uk / images / D / F6205a(.)JPG**

**(2) - http(:)/ www(.)misquincemag(.)com / cm / misquincemag / images / blue(-)dress(-)dama(-)aidanmattox(-)426780(-)de(-)25111783(.)jpg**

**(3) - http(:)/ 3(.)bp(.)blogspot(.)com / _Qrc7JCK4SpI / S2cpT9bqdPI / AAAAAAAADS4 / 01wsPkt9yNU / s400 / vintage + red + dress + 3(.)jpg**

**(4) - http(:)/ fashionzclothing(.)com / wp(-)content / uploads / 2011 / 01 / golden(-)bridal(-)dresses(-)3(.)jpg**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

Her golden eyes continued to stare up at me minutes after I uttered the words. Fidgeting nervously, I glanced around and cleared my throat, wondering if perhaps I hadn't really said them out loud. Maybe just in my mind? And she was waiting for me to speak? But I could have sworn I had said something. No, I had. I know I had. Right?

After another moment, a dark eyebrow rose and the corner of Alice's mouth curved into a small smile. "A Witch, you say?" She asked rhetorically. I nodded anyways, waiting for her to freak out. To scream. To laugh? To smile and say it didn't matter. Okay, to say _anything_. Honestly. The staring was a little unsettling. But all she did was gain a little light in her eye as she looked me up and down again. So that wasn't a bad sign, right? A light in the eye? I would go as far to say that it was a _good_ sign, actually.

"So…I'm a Witch and you're a Vampire. Just so we're both clear." I repeated slowly, getting slightly confused at her reaction.

Alice, seemingly catching onto my confusing and worry, smiled brightly and leaned forward against me. "Don't fret so much, my Bella. It doesn't bother me. Like you said; it would be… what was it? The pot calling the kettle black?" She giggled quietly and shook her head. "I can't believe none of us thought of that before. It makes so much sense now. You just… you don't have the Witch aura about you. I'm surprised."

"The Witch aura?" I asked, confused again. We had auras? Well, save for me and my sisters apparently.

Smiling sweetly, Alice turned back to the railing, leaning against it while she looked out at the gardens down below. "Yes, you know; the mysterious, ancient and mystical aura. Witches are one of the oldest races out there, even older than Vampires. You guys were around when Werewolves were common."

I scoffed. "What? I totally have the aura. If it wasn't for my sisters forcing us all to meet and mingle and become friends, I would be mysterious as hell to you guys right now. You'd be up all hours of the night, pondering over me."

"I would, would I?" Alice laughed as I leaned against the railing beside her.

The stone was cold on my palms as I nodded. "Yes. Your mind would be full of questions on me, you'd find your thoughts always drifting back to me; 'what is is about her?' 'why am I so drawn in?' 'why is she so charmingly mysterious and mystical?'" Alice full out laughed and lightly swatted my arm while she rolled her eyes. "'How can one person be so awesomely amazing?' 'God really does give with both hands.'"

"Enough; I'm scared if your head gets any bigger, it will explode." She giggled, nudging me with her hip. After a moment, she looked over at me curiously. "So the whole Witch thing…is that why you and your sisters are so close? You all always seem to be thinking the same thing or know what the others are thinking."

I shifted, nodding slowly. It was weird, being able to talk to her about it now. Being open about it, when all my life I was taught to keep it a secret, never speak about it with anyone but Tanya and Kate. "We've got this thing, it's like a mind link. We can hear and see what the others are thinking. Well, unless we block our thoughts. If we feel like privacy or have secrets or something, I guess, then we can think of a wall and it blocks the others out. Like severing the link or closing the line."

"Wow, that must come in handy a lot." She commented. I nodded again, biting my lip. "How many of you are there? I know your species was going extinct a couple hundred years ago."

Again, I shifted uncomfortably. "Species? You make us sound like some exotic animal or something."

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that!" She said quickly, wrapping her arms around me. "I'm just - I've got so many questions. Carlisle will have so many questions, everyone will. There's isn't a lot known about you, or, well, any of us I guess. We all know about ourselves, but no one really knows about each other, you know? Not any actual facts; just speculations and assumptions, or things from books, but those are just other peoples thoughts on each species. Like how we don't really burn up in the sun."

"You don't?" I asked, surprised.

She smiled. "See?" I nodded and she smiled brighter.

"Not a lot." I said and when Alice raised her eyebrow, I elaborated. "There's not a lot of us left. Large enough for a small society but small enough to stay off of everyone else's radar." I awkwardly cleared my throat. "What, uh, what about you? Are the Romanians still keeping order and whatnot? Our own information; books and stuff, of you and the other races are a little outdated I think."

Alice nodded, seemingly bewildered about my question. "Indeed, it would seem. I've only been around during the Volturi's rein. I'm not sure about the Romanians; maybe Carlisle knows more about them. He's lived much longer than I have."

"Oh? And how long have you - ew!" I ripped my hand away from the railing, glaring down at the gum stuck to it. "Okay, hold that thought; I need soap and water pronto." I smiled sheepishly at Alice who nodded and smiled while I ducked back into the ball room, off to find a washroom. "People and their gum…can't keep it in their mouths…shouldn't chew it in the first place if they're just going to stick it to things… sticky hands now…"

The bathroom was empty when I entered and I quickly walked over to one of the sinks, turning it on and started scrubbing my hands. I wasn't a germ-a-phobe or anything like that, but come on. Gum? Chewed gum? That had been in someone else's mouth? Covered in saliva? Stuck to a railing catching dirt and who knows what else, having bugs crawling and flying around it? Disgusting.

The noise from the main ball room got louder when someone entered the bathroom until the door closed again. I didn't bother looking up from washing my hands until arms wrapped around my waist and someone leaned into me. "Couldn't stand being away from me for two seconds so I could wash my hands, could you?" I laughed.

"It was unbearable." A tinkling voice replied while the arms squeezed me.

A tickle ran through my head, making me wince before I shook it off. Music must have been louder than I thought; I mean, I could practically feel it through the walls.

"I'm sorry you had to wait so long then." I grinned, turning around.

Small pale hands grabbed my face as warm lips attacked mine. Jeesh; did she really miss me that much? It was only a minute or two.

She started backing me up to the wall and I grimaced as my back hit it, the back of my head knocking against the wall lightly. Not quite light enough though; seeing as it throbbed for a second. "Hey - umph - wait - Ali-ung - hold on - mmph - stop-" I tried pushing her away as lightly as I could, but her little hands kept pushing or swatting mine away while simultaneously trying to pull my dress coat off. I kept pulling it on, attempting to try and get her to stop, but it was like Alice was attacking me or something. And not in a good way. It was getting overwhelming. Rough. Frightening almost. "Please stop, Alice." I said, managing to rip my face away from hers long enough to get the words out until she pulled it back.

And then something clicked.

Her warm lips and tongue, her warm hands and body.

Warm.

Alice isn't, and never was, warm. She was always pleasantly cold.

This time when I tried pushing her away from me, I wasn't trying to be gentle.

Alice stumbled back a few steps, breathing deeply and flushed. My mind reeled; this looked like Alice. The same ink black hair, down tonight. The same pale skin. The same golden eyes. The same dress. But -

"Alice isn't warm." I repeated out loud, firmly. "You can't be her. Alice - she…she's cold. Wh-who are you?"

Alice cooed at me, reaching out to cup the side of my face. I yanked my head back away from it, glaring. "Isabella, it's me. What's wrong, my sweet?" She asked, her voice light and melodic. Alice's voice.

But not Alice's words. She didn't call me Isabella. No one in the family did; it was Bella to them. "Who are you?" I repeated, my glare intensifying. Again, the impostor tried to take another step towards me, shaking their head. I stood up straighter and squared my shoulders, _"Do not hide your true face; Illusion die and leave no trace."_

They gasped, their image rippling before shifting and changing. The short dark hair grew down to a length closer to my own, lightening shade by shade until it reached a light brown. Their eyes darkened; one a navy blue while the other was a muddy brown. Their features sharpened; their chin more pointed, higher cheek bones, as they grew a few inches.

"You!" I snarled, looking at the Witch that had been playing me these past few months. "How _dare_ you!" I growled, launching myself at them.

She grabbed my dress coat, stepping to the side a second before I collided with her, and swung me around into the door of one of the stalls in the washroom. It slammed open, but luckily I was wearing my mask that took most of the damage from smacking into it. I looked over my shoulder, holding my palm out and watched as waves rippled through the air and collided with her. She shot off into one of the mirrors before hitting the floor, glaring at me. "Desmond!" She called.

I got up, stalking over to her and raised my fist, only to be tackled to the floor. And judging by the size and weight; this wasn't another girl.

Desmond, supposedly.

Green eyes bore into mine as he grabbed my wrists and tried to pin me to the ground. Again, I opened my hands up and watched as more energy waves shot off from my palms, carrying him up and smashing him against the ceiling. I rolled off to the side, narrowly missing him landing on me. Movement caught my eye and I quickly scrambled to my feet, grabbing the witch and slamming her against the wall before she could open the door to the washroom. "Who are you?" I yelled in her face. I shook her when she didn't answer, my patience running out. "What do you want from us? Who are you?"

A large hand gripped my shoulder, spinning me around and I barely had enough time to brace myself before a fist shot out at me. I cried out, my mask flying off as I crumpled to the corner by the door. It whipped open as they both rushed out. Only to see the witch shoved back in and hear Desmond run off. "You're the Witch, aren't you? The one stalking Bella?" Kate's voice rang out as the witch was shoved up against the wall and my sister came into view. "What do you want from us?" She repeated my earlier question.

Something shiny and silver caught the light in the witch's hand, but Kate missed it. "No!" I yelled, reaching out for the knife.

Kate whipped her head around to look at me and gasped. "Bella!"

The Witch Blinked and was gone from the room, leaving Kate grasping thin air. She cursed but rushed over to me, crouching and touched my eyebrow. I winced. "Ow!"

"Oh, Bella. Not again. Why does she keep coming after you?" Kate murmured. "Stay here."

Kate got up and I heard a sink running before she returned with a wad of wet toilet paper and started dabbing my eyebrow again. I grimaced as the crimson on it grew each time she brought her hand back to fold the toilet paper over and dab again. "You saw her, right? You saw her this time? You believe me now?" I asked, somewhat frantically.

Kate stared into my eyes, smiling sadly. "Yes, Bella, I believe you. Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere else?"

I shook my head, groaning and getting to my feet with her help. "No; I think I faired pretty well this time. Would have had her if this Desmond bloke didn't show up."

"The man that ran from here?" Kate asked and I nodded. "What do they want? Why are they doing this?"

"I don't know! That's what I've been trying to figure out. But every time I get close, she slithers away." I sighed, walking over to the mirrors and sinks again. Great. Had a damn gash in my eyebrow. I think that Desmond might have been wearing a ring. Cheater.

Kate sighed as well, getting more toilet paper and held it to my eyebrow. "Was…was she wearing Alice's dress?"

Oh yeah…

Frantic, again, I started scrubbing my lips. Kate, putting the pieces together, gasped. "You thought she was…she tricked you into thinking…"

"She can shape shift or something. She…she l-looked like A-Alice and I k-k-kissed her. She kissed m-me. But I-I-I thought it w-was Alice, I swear! I d-didn't mean t-to."

"Ssh. It's okay, Bella. Just calm down; it wasn't your fault." Kate said soothingly, wrapping her arm around my shoulders. "It's alright."

Leaning into Kate, I let my head fall forward and closed my eyes. "W-Why won't she leave m-me alone?"

Kate knew I wasn't expecting an answer; she didn't have any, I didn't have any, nor would any one else at this point, so she stayed quiet. After a minute, she squeezed my shoulders and grabbed my mask off the counter by the sink and led me out of the bathroom and into the main ball room. I followed her lead, staring down at our feet, not sure where she was taking me until I spotted red heels off in the distance and getting closer.

There was another quiet gasp before I was pulled into Tanya's arms in a tight and protective hug while she held me tight like I would slip away if she let go. "What happened? Who did this to you?" She practically growled, holding me even tighter.

"The Witch," Kate said; her own voice hard and rough, different from her quiet and smooth one she used while comforting me. "From before. The one who keeps kicking Bella's ass."

"Hey!"

"She followed us _here_ even?" Tanya asked, angry and incredulous. "That's it; I've had it. She's dead."

"Hold on; what's going on here?" Edward's voice broke in; confused and worried. "Did someone do this to Bella?" He asked, his chilly fingers ghosting over the gash. "You should have Carlisle stitch this up for you." He murmured. "We need to get you home."

"Agreed." Tanya said. I looked up as Jasper made his way through the dancing crowd to us, along with Emmett and Rosalie. Esme and Carlisle were on the other side of the room, looking over, and started to make their way to us. "Kate, you and the Cullens can take the limo back; I'm taking Bella up to the attic; I don't want anyone else popping in on us and that's the safest place I can think of right now."

Kate nodded, her hand finding Jasper's. "Let's go, guys. I'll explain more on the way."

Another cold hand slid into mine. "Bella, you ran off on m - is that blood?" Alice asked, her nostrils flaring. My eyes widened as I watched little ink black pools fill hers until they were completely black. A low rumble erupted from her chest. "Did someone hurt you?"

Tanya shook her head, her hand finding my free one. "No time to explain here; go with Kate and the others."

"Wait!" I shouted as Tanya already started Shimmering. "Close your eyes and trust me." I quickly told Alice, pulling her to me as I Shimmered.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

The continuous rumbling coming from Alice's chest was almost soothing now. I wasn't sure if it was all the dancing, the fighting, Shimmering two people at once, or just the drama of filling Alice in on everything, but I was exhausted and the growling was putting me to sleep.

Or close to it, seeing as every time I was about to, I was stuck with the needle again. Not that it was Carlisle's fault; he was just trying to help and stitch my eyebrow. But still.

We were all up in the attic, and I was pretty weirded out because I had never seen so many people up here before, while Carlisle stitched me up. I was laying on the old couch, my head in Alice's lap while Carlisle had pulled a chair up in front of it so he could sit down while he fixed me up. Alice, trying to calm herself down, and me as well, kept running her chilly fingers through my hair. The growl coming from her was like an odd, almost frightening lullaby because it was so quiet. Tanya and Kate were violently flipping through Duchess again to try and find something, though I don't think even they knew what they were looking for. Emmett was poking around a shelf full of jars that contained various things. He seemed to be having a ball. Rosalie was sitting at the window, looking out at the woods down below, while Edward scanned other shelves of books. Jasper was sitting on the arm of the couch by my feet, watching Carlisle work. I was fairly certain he wasn't breathing either.

Finally, Carlisle sighed and sat back, smiling sympathetically at me. "All finished."

I hesitantly reached up, gently touching the small white bandage over the stitches and offered a feeble smile. "Thank you."

Kate sighed, rubbing her eyes as she looked up from Duchess. "Are you certain she's a Witch? Perhaps she's something else? I haven't ever heard of a spell that changes your appearance."

"I don't think it was a spell." I murmured.

Looking up, Tanya furrowed her brows. "Huh?"

"I - here, I'll show you." I said, sitting up and swinging my legs off the front of the couch to sit up right. "Edward, hand me that book please? No, to the left…next one… after that… there, that one. Thank you." I smiled up at him and placed my palm on the black book's hard cover. "Wiccan Affinities." I muttered and waited a second before opening the book. Letters started appearing, filling the pages, turning into sentences that turned into paragraphs. I flipped pages until I found what I was looking for. "There, I knew it. That's her affinity. She didn't just look like other people; she did what they could do. Well, what I could do at least. Her affinity allows her to mimic, for lack of a better term, another person's body; look how it looks, do what it does, sound like it does, etc."

"Fascinating." Carlisle breathed. He cleared his throat when everyone looked over at him. "Sorry; this is all just…fascinating. I've never seen, in all my years… I've only ever met one Witch before and that was only for a moment or two. She was very secretive and standoffish; I could barely have a conversation with her, let alone ask about all of this."

"So _that's_ where you get it." Kate said with a small smirk at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Can we get back to the topic?" Alice growled. "Someone is trying to hurt my Bella." She said, wrapping her arms around me, resting against me.

I smiled down at her. "Don't worry, Alice. This isn't the first time we've tasselled; I've fought with her before. She always Blinks before things get too intense."

"Before?"

Nodding, I thought back to the various times we fought. "Yes, during the Halloween dance; that was why I ran off. I spotted her. Then down in Texas, you know, here and there."

Alice gasped, her eyes widening as she looked down at my palms. "Is she… did she… is she responsible for this? Did she do this to you?" She half asked, half growled again.

Kate ducked her head, looking down at her feet. "Um, no. That was…me." Everyone in the room looked at her curiously and she sighed. "My affinity; I didn't really - I hadn't actually… Bella had an idea to see if I really had an affinity, which I did, and I didn't listen when she said to not touch her. I panicked."

"I'm not sure I understand." Jasper said, running a hand through his blonde locks. "You electrocuted Bella?"

Nodding, Kate held up one of her hands. Jasper and Esme jumped as little bolts of electricity ran between her fingers until she stopped. "It was an accident."

"Which is totally okay and understandable. I said don't worry about it, Kate. Hardly even felt it."

**'Liar.'** Tanya muttered in my head. Kate had been blocking the both of us all night and hadn't taken down the wall yet.

_'She's beaten herself up over it enough already. We don't need to reopen that wound again.'_ I replied back with a faint glare at her. She shrugged, raising her hands up in a surrendering motion.

Emmett cleared his throat. "So you've got Electricity as a power," He said to Kate.

She nodded. "Affinity, but yes."

"What about you two, then? What are your powers?" He asked, excitement dancing across his face. The rest of the Cullens seemed interested in that as well, even Alice perked up slightly.

"Affinity." Kate mumbled under her breath again. She hated it when people called certain things by the wrong name. Even though it wouldn't be _inaccurate_ to call them powers. It was just another name for them, but she was weird like that. A little obsessive compulsive.

Tanya glanced at me and shrugged again. "Fire and Energy."

When we said and did nothing else, Emmett deflated. "No demonstration like Kate?"

I half grinned and closed my eyes, focusing in on Emmett's energy that was slightly more active than anyone else's in the room, before tapping into it. My own drowsiness vanished and I opened my eyes to watch as Emmett's shoulders sunk even further, his whole posture slouching. My eyes widened in astonishment though; the energy flowing from him never decreasing or ceasing, never fading like it would have had I been draining anyone else. Unlimited energy? Like my ring? "How is that possible?" I asked out loud.

Emmett looked up at me with a grin. "This feels weird. I feel tired, but not."

"How are you not on the floor right now?" I asked, stopping and cocking my head to the side curiously. Emmett shook himself and straightened back out, beaming.

"Vampire, baby. Unlimited energy, stamina, etc. We don't need sleep; we can't, because we don't run out of energy." He replied.

Tanya looked over to Edward with a smirk and I shuddered, quickly looking away. "Well fancy that. You know, we showed you our attic and affinities, but you haven't said anything about vampires yet, mister."

"The Romanians don't rule anymore." I spoke up, offering her that piece of information. "And they don't burn in the sunlight."

Jasper looked over at Alice. "You told her tonight as well?"

Alice shrugged, playing with my hand as she looked up at her brother. "Everyone kind of unconsciously planned to tonight. It seemed like the right time, you know?"

"Well, until Bella got beat up." Rosalie muttered, still looking out the window.

Huffing, I squared my shoulders again and scowled. "I didn't get beat up! It was one lucky punch he got in. The floor had just been washed; it was slippery. And my mask was throwing me off; it had some weight to it."

"And the dog barking wouldn't let you focus?" Emmett asked while Tanya laughed.

"And the sun's glare in your eyes made it impossible to see?" Kate snickered. "Wow, those two are lucky you weren't on your game or you would have kicked some ass then, eh?"

Pouting, I slumped back in the couch and crossed my arms. "You guys suck."

Alice cooed, pecking me on the cheek. "I know you could have taken them."

I just harrumphed, unconsciously leaning into her while Tanya and Kate went back to looking through Duchess again while they giggled.

Friggin' jerks.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

**Not quite as long as usual. Sorry about that. But it's been forever and I thought you guys deserved an update on something, regardless of its length. I haven't been on top of my writing a lot lately; what with it being summer and all. Plus I've been spending just about all of my free time watching Angel -brownie points to other fans of the show out there- but I've finished all the episodes. Now I'm onto Buffy, though I think I really should have watched that first. Oh well.**

**So, review please. What do you want to happen? What do you think will happen? What do you think of what **_**has**_** happened. Comments on the show Angel? Heh.**

**-Paige.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

"No," I uttered, shaking my head back and forth with a horror struck face. "No, this can't be happening again. Not _again_." How? How on _earth_ did this keep happening to me? Why me? What had I ever done to anyone else? Who had I wronged? _Who, dammit!_ Well whoever it was; I'm sorry! I'm damn sorry! "Why me?" I muttered again, my grip on the arms of my chair tightening till my knuckles were white, my head drooping forward in defeat.

Discreetly, well, as discreetly as the giant could, Emmett leaned towards me from his chair, nudging me with his shoulder. "Don't give up, Bella!" He whispered fiercely. "Don't give up on us; we can figure a way out of here. Just hang in there a little longer."

But I couldn't. Not any longer. My hope had long since been distinguished. I was resigned and accepted the torture we were sure to endure any second now, when the crafty witch returned.

I still _couldn't believe_ she had gotten me. Not just me though, me _and_ Emmett.

Guilty, I looked up into the big bear's face. "I'm so sorry, Emmett. If we hadn't been hanging out… I just… she wouldn't have grabbed you, too. She just wanted me; it's always been me. I'm so sorry."

"Hey now, none of that talk. I clearly had the chance to run off and escape back there and I _chose_ not to. We're in this together, buddy, and I'm going to get us out of it." He replied, his voice still lowered and barely audible, as to not let her know we were speaking and plotting our escape. "I just sent Edward a text," He nodded down to his lap where he was stealthily tapping on his phone. "He's coming with backup; they'll be here soon."

The doorknob of the door on the other side of the dark room slowly began to turn and my breath caught in my throat, my heart pounding achingly in my chest. "No… no; she's too soon. We need more time; Edward needs more time to get here!" I hissed out in horror.

Emmett straightened up in his chair, putting on a grave face. "Don't worry, Bella, I'll go first. I've been around longer, experienced more; it'll take longer to crack me than you. That should buy us some time."

Biting my lip, I hesitantly nodded. "Emmett, I… I just wanted to say… to tell you that… I…"

He reached over, patting my hand and nodded with a grim smile. "Save it for when we're out of here. We're going to get through this, together."

The door swung open and we both froze, a slim figure waltzing over to the middle of the room.

It was dead quite for a few moments.

Emmett and I looked at each other once more, before looking back up to her.

"Well?" She asked, her voice amused as she tapped her foot impatiently, her hands on her hips.

Clearing his throat, Emmett grimaced before he looked her in the eye. "The…" He took a deep breath. "The white. Go with the white one."

Tanya cocked her head to the side, looking down at the purple dress she was wearing. "Really? Back to the white one?"

"It will go good with the flats." Emmett choked out.

She beamed, twirling around and headed back for the closet. "You're right! I'm so glad I found you guys downstairs!" She sang and disappeared behind the door again.

Emmett slumped back in his seat, and it was me who reached over to pat his hand this time. "You did good, man, you did good. Edward should be here any minute."

Speaking of which…

There was a knock on Tanya's bedroom door before it opened to reveal the unruly bronze haired boy and his blonde statuesque sister. He took one look at us and started chuckling. "Looks like we got here just in time, Rose. I don't think these two could take another second." He laughed, shaking his head. Rosalie's golden eyes swept over the room, a slight quirk of her lips, and nodded her agreement. "Tanya?" Edward called towards the closet as Emmett and I got up.

She poked her strawberry blonde head back out of the door. "Just a second; I'm still deciding on what to wear to the club."

Edward was taking her out on yet another date tonight, and they were heading to the club.

"Then flats are most definitely not something you should be wearing." Rosalie commented, walking over to the closet. "What were you thinking?"

"Hey! They provide comfort and therefore more dancing, Rosie! It was a snap decision; I was thinking under pressure!" Emmett snapped. "And they go good with the white dress, dammit!" He huffed, storming out of the room.

Edward, Rosalie, and I all looked at each other blankly in the silence that the giant had left. I cleared my throat awkwardly, rolling back and forth on my feet. "Right, well, I'm just going to…um…yeah…" I cleared my throat again, looking away and Shimmered out of the room.

**XXxxXXxxXXxxXX**

She sighed, looking around the small table in the back of the pub.

These were the best she could come up with; but they were all lazy, goalless, slobs. Hopefully they'd get the job done though, or prove to be enough of a distraction for her to _her_ job done.

They were bigger men; so it'd take more than a little fire, electricity, or energy to take them down. They were all muscle bound, tattooed, non-shaving, smelly thugs. People who'd do anything for the right price and not care enough to ask questions.

Exactly what she needed.

Clearing her throat, she tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear. "Those two, you fine gentlemen can keep. Blondes really aren't my thing." She said, pointing to a few of the photos of the blonde Swan sisters. "But _she_ is _mine_ and if any of you get any ideas or stray from the plan with her; you'll wish we never met, got it?" The men all grunted their responses and she rolled her eyes, wafting the smoke from her face. "It's not going to be easy though, gents, not even for a group of mighty warlocks like yourselves. These are the Cullens; the nosiest, weirdest damn family you'll ever see. They'll be there too, and will most definitely put up a fight and try to protect the sisters. My suggestion is a lot of Blinking and Shimmering to confuse and disorient them."

One of the thugs sat up straighter, pulling his cap off to scratch his greasy hair and then pulled it back on. "What about those girls. Can we have 'em too?" He laughed with the rest of his buddies, picking up on of the photos and sat back, grinning at it.

She scowled at him, snatching the photo from his hands and slammed it back down on the table with the rest and the money. "I don't care; if you manage to grab one of them too, then by all means. But the sisters are your top priority; if the Cullens decide to come after us on a rescue mission, I want them distracted and following you guys. I don't need them barging down my door and disrupting my time with Isabella."

"Right, me and m'boys got it, lady. We know what to do and who to do it to; just tell us when this is all going down." Another thug said.

She slowly grinned, meeting all their eyes and then looked back down to a photo, tracing long, flowing black hair with her fingers. "Soon. I'm coming for you very soon, my love."

**XXxxXXxxXXxxXX**

An explosion of water appearing from nowhere in the middle of the kitchen knocked over a chair, sliding another one into the hall in its current, splashing the walls and ceiling, and soaking just about everything in sight. I fell from nowhere, landing on my back in the middle of it, coughing up water, and idly watched as algae, sand, some rocks, and a fish floated by in the small puddle now taking up nearly the entire kitchen floor.

Groaning, I sat up and slowly got to my feet, water oozing from my chucks. I reached up, wiping the water from my face and then shook the water from my hands. Pointless, really, because I was literally dripping wet everywhere. With a grimace, I squeezed out my new tie and then froze, slowly looking up into the confused/flabbergasted eyes of Esme who was buttering a sandwich, her hand froze in mid air with the butter knife in it, a piece of bread in the other.

Smiling sheepishly, I went to explain all of this to her, but paused. Something was…wiggling around. Frowning, I patted my pants' pockets, then the pockets on my vest and smiled, nodding. Esme looked even more confused when I pulled a small fish from the little pocket, bent over and picked up the other flopping around on the tiled floor, and walked over to the sink to place them in and start filling it with water. I glanced over at her, smiling again. "Could you turn this off when it fills enough for them?" I asked.

Slowly, Esme nodded, and I grinned, walking off to the stairs to head for my room, water squishing and oozing from my shoes more with every step.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

"Bella, you can look." Alice giggled over her shoulder at me.

My face was buried in the crook of her neck as I squeezed my eyes shut tight, my arms wrapped firmly around her, and my legs around her waist.I furiously shook my head against her, holding on tighter. I didn't need to look; I could feel just how damn fast we were going and I knew if I looked, I'd scream.

I'd scream my ass off, man.

This was freaking fast.

And there were no seat belts.

"Come on; you'll love it, I promise. Everyone loves running; even your sisters. They trust my brothers enough to take them running, why can't you trust me enough to open your eyes?" Alice said, not even breathless from all this running. Being a vampire with endless amounts of energy must be nice.

Although, being a Witch with a ring that had endless amounts of energy ready to be pumped into you was probably right up there with the vampire.

"I do trust you, Alice, believe me. But this isn't the same as my sisters being carried by your brothers." I shouted above the wind whipping past us, though I should have known she'd hear me even if I whispered.

Alice shook with more giggles. "And why is that?"

"Because, no offence, by your brothers aren't four feet and eleven inches." I deadpanned.

"Bella, I won't drop you. I might be small, but I'm just as strong as either of those two. Again, let me point out one crucial detail, my sweet. I'm a _vampire_." She laughed at me. "Please, Bella? You won't regret it, I swear."

Sighing, I grudgingly nodded. "Fine, but if I puke all over you; _I_ won't feel bad because you made me look."

Hesitantly, I lifted my face from her neck, feeling the wind on my face, and rested my chin on her shoulder. "Now open your eyes." She murmured quietly. Slowly, my eyes cracked open until I was looking around us, gasping.

The forest whipped by, little more than a green and white blur. Or maybe that was us; we were the blur and not the forest seeing as it wasn't actually moving, but we were. Alice was running so fast it was like we were gliding over the ground. I don't think her feet were touching the ground long enough for it to be considered a step.

It was like we were flying!

"Wow!" I exclaimed, a grin splitting my face.

Alice giggled and packed on the speed, zipping in through the trees of the forest even faster. "Aren't you glad you wore the goggles now?"

I nodded, even though she couldn't see me. I _was_ glad that I was wearing what I was wearing; otherwise my eyes would have dried out long ago, and I would have froze. I had on a pair of black combat boots, faded jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and a black, wool, three quarter length coat, with a dark brown scarf around my neck, covering my mouth and throat that would have been mostly exposed, a pair of vintage goggles, and an old vintage newsboy hat, backwards so it wouldn't blow off, with a pair of gloves.

"Why have we not done this before!" I cheered, gasping again as Alice hopped a small frozen creek, landing gracefully on the other side even with me on her back.

"I've no idea, my Bella." Alice chimed with a grin as we continued to race throughout the woods.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

"Alright, I'll be back later guys." I called over my shoulder before closing the front door of the manor.

Jasper and the other guys were tacking me to Seattle. There was a really old arcade in one of the malls, and Jasper wanted to show me his favourite game. Apparently they didn't have it anywhere else, that he knew of.

I turned from the door, standing on the porch and looked at the truck in the driveway. It was Jasper's; simple and red. Nothing too fancy, too shiny, or eye catching like most of the Cullen vehicles.

Smiling, I skipped down the steps of the porch and to the sidewalk. It had been a couple of days since I had been out of the house. The ball was two weeks ago, the week following it I had only left to go to school with the other two. Otherwise we pretty much boarded ourselves up in the manor. The Cullens didn't want to take any chances though, and were constantly over. Or we were at their place. There was always a number of Cullens with a Swan anywhere we went. Which I didn't mind, because I liked hanging out with them. Plus, you know, Esme was a much better cook than Tanya.

And then the passed week, it was the start of Christmas break, so school had been out. I left once or twice to go to town for groceries, or to hang out in the woods with Alice. There was a pond there that had just finished freezing over, and she was teaching me how to skate, while Emmett mostly laughed at me, skating circles around than that; I didn't get out much.

The back window unrolled and Emmett leaned out of it. "Come on! You're so slow! Humans are so slow!"

Rolling my eyes, I picked up my pace. "I'm a Wi - whoa!"

It was quiet for all of two seconds as I gazed up at the sky, trying to get my bearings and not freeze my ass off on the patch of ice I was now laying on. Emmett was the first to break; booming out a laugh that had both Edward and Jasper going.

Blushing like mad, I reached up and grabbed the door handle of the truck and hoisted myself to my feet. Glaring, I got into the truck, and harrumphed, scowling out the front windshield. Jasper chuckled, looking over at me. "Are you al-"

"I'm _fine_, Jasper. Let's go." I growled.

They all just laughed harder as we peeled out of the driveway.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

Tanya scoffed, leaning forward in the lazy boy both her and Edward were snuggled in. "That's it? That's the end? What the hell, man! The thing was spinning; does that mean it was real, or was that a dream too? That doesn't… there needs to be more! Come on!"

"Relax, Tanya." Kate laughed, shaking her head at our sister's antics. She always got like that at the end of movies, which is usually why we tended to not watch them with her. But everyone was over at the Cullens' place and everyone felt like watching a movie.

She huffed, falling back against Edward as Kate and I continued to laugh at her. Alice smiled up at me, tucked into my side on the couch, and I beamed back. "I can't help it - what with an ending like that." Tanya grumbled.

Kate smirked. "We know, and we still love you despite your craziness."

Tanya blew her a sarcastic kiss. "And I love you despite your smartalec-y ways." She drawled. "And you too, Bella, I love you despite your standoffish ways." She crooned at me, laughing and blew me an exaggerated kiss that I rolled me eyes at.

"Back at you, ya loon." I muttered.

Kate internally sighed. _**'Say it, Bella. Just once. Please.'**_

_'Can we not start this so late into the night?'_ I grumbled, scowling at her.

**'You're going to have to say ****love you**** some point in your life, Bella. That's not something you just can't ever say.'**

_'Guys, seriously.'_

_**'What happens when Alice says it to you? What then?'**_ Kate said and I froze, whipping my head to look up at her. _**'It's not like they make a card for that kind of thing; **__**sorry I can't actually say the words, but hey, I love you.**__** So what are you going to do then? Write it down on a sticky? How romantic is that, Bella! That's a cheap out. A cheap out, dammit.'**_

**'Uh, Kate. You can settle down-'**

_**'I can just imagine it. Both of you sitting on that very couch you're sitting on now. A fire going, candles, all curled up in the blankets. She murmurs it to you, and then you gaze into her eyes, reaching into your pocket. Only, the note isn't there. And you panic, getting to your feet to furiously search for it. You rip up the blankets and then the cushions, looking under the couch and table, before you give up and shimmer home to quickly scribble it down on a paper. You return and hand it to her with a smile, and watch as her confused face slowly falls into disappointment and hurt because you won't say it back. Why would you do that to her, Bella? Why?'**_

"Kate; enough!"

Kate looked over at Tanya who were looking at her like she grew another head. "What?"

"What _was_ that?" She asked, bewilderment colouring her voice.

"What; you haven't thought of that too? I'm just trying to help her. That could happen and she should just be prepared and know." Kate replied.

Tanya shook her head with a pointed look. "Let it go."

I had a sneaking suspicion that Tanya knew why I didn't/couldn't say those little words, but I was too scared to ask her. And now definitely wasn't the time; most of the Cullens looked confused or were trying to pretend they hadn't noticed the little mental squabble that just happened.

Everyone was quietly looking around at one another, awkwardly. "Well I think I'm going to call it a night." I muttered, not meeting anyone's eye, and Shimmered back to my own room back at the manor.

Alice, though, the little sneak grabbed my hand and was standing in my room with me when I finished. "Sorry." She said, sheepishly. "You looked upset though. Do you want to talk about it?"

Sighing, I flopped back onto my bed, careful not to land on Louis. "Not especially." I replied.

She nodded, climbing onto the bed to lay beside me.

Ten minutes later we were both laying back on the pillows on top of the blankets. I was staring at the ceiling, going over Kate's weird, nonsensical little rant thing in my head, while Alice had her arm wrapped around my stomach, with her head on my shoulder tucked under my chin. Alice broke the silence, speaking quietly in the glow of the lamp that was on the bedside table. "Do you and your sisters fight a lot?"

Humming, I shook my head. "Not really, no." Alice squeezed me tighter. "The whole Witch thing kind of makes us closer to each other than most siblings, but even without that; we'd be close. Tanya and Kate are the only people I've ever had growing up, just like Kate and I are the only people Tanya's ever had, and so on. That's not to say we never fight, because we do. It's just never a real fight. That wasn't even one; it was just Kate getting excited."

"Why did you leave then?" Alice asked.

Shrugging my shoulders, I felt Louis move to lay his big belly across my legs. "I've never been one for confrontations. Those two are very emotional, and most of the time it's just better to leave them to cool down then to stay and try to fix things. They've got to blow off steam, and I'm the only one who doesn't get passionate and fight back when they do."

"That doesn't seem very fair for you." She murmured.

Snorting, I shook my head again. "It's definitely not fair; but more so for them. When they get mad or upset; they yell and fight and are angry/upset with me or each other for the rest of the night. The next day all is forgiven and we good again. It doesn't happen very often, but when I get mad or upset, I ignore people. I walk away and they might not hear a peep from me for a couple days." I chuckled softly. "I can really hold a grudge."

I yawned and Alice smiled warmly at me. "You should get some sleep, Bella. It's late."

Nodding, I reached over and turned off the lamp. "In a minute or two; I want to lay here some more first."

Before I knew it, though, I had fallen asleep in my clothes, on top of the blankets, with Alice curled up to me, and Louis laying on me.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

**Hello! :D**

**So, this was shorter than most. Sorry about that. But I like it.**

**Showing you a week in the life of Bella.**

**Stay tuned, because things are about to be shaken up, folks.**

**And sorry for the long time between updates; I'm lazy.**

**Review please!**

**-Paige.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

"Does this not look appetizing to you even in the slightest?" I asked curiously, looking up at Esme with a raised eyebrow.

She had just finished making strawberry shortcake and had cut me a slice, pouring extra jam and strawberries overtop with a scoop of ice cream. You could take a picture of it, it looked so perfect. Like it was professionally done. Or like someone photoshopped it to perfection in real life somehow. Esme was now sitting down at the kitchen island next to me, grinning with amused eyes as she watched me stab a strawberry and pop it into my mouth. Sooo freaking good, man. "No, not really." She replied simply.

"How is that even possible? This thing tastes so dang good." I replied with a full mouth, trying not to spray the cake all over. I smiled sheepishly as she laughed lightly at me.

"I don't know," She mused, tapping her chin. "Does a deer make you thirsty?"

My face screwed up and I furiously shook my head. "Gross, no."

She laughed again, shaking her head at me. "Well there you go; deers make me very thirsty."

"I bet I could make Emmett try this." I replied, a smirk playing at my lips. "Emmett!" I called out, and not a second later the giant was standing in the kitchen with an X Box controller in his hands and a headset on his head.

"What's up, Bella Boo?" He asked curiously, looking at Esme and then back to me with a grin.

Shrugging my shoulders, I pushed around another strawberry. "Nothing really… I was just wondering if you wanted to try some cake."

"Unless under all that cake is a grizzly, then I don't think so." He boomed out a chuckle. "Nice try though."

Huffing, I crossed my arms over my chest. "Fine… wait! I dare you! I so dare you, I double dare you." I called as he turned to head back to the living room. Emmett froze, his shoulders stiffening before he looked over one at me. His golden eyes narrowed, a frown tugging at his lips. "Just a small bite, big guy." I grinned.

Taking a deep breath, he stormed over, setting the controller down on the table. "You better enjoy this, because the next dare _I_ think up for _you_ is going to be bad. Very bad." He growled, causing me to grin wider. Emmett looked down to my bowl, taking the spoon from my hand, and lifted a spoonful of cake to his face. He stared it down for a good ten seconds before closing his eyes and taking another deep breath. In a blur, he shoved the spoon into his mouth, pulling it back out and started chewing quickly. It didn't last though, and soon he was bent over the sink, spitting it out. "Gross! Tastes like ash!" He sputtered a few times, taking a cloth and wiping his mouth, throwing that into the sink as well.

Cackling, I got to my feet and started walking to the living room to watch him play. "Awesome!" I giggled, listening to him rant in the kitchen about it to Esme while I spooned another mouthful into my mouth. "Heheh."

**XXxxXXxxXX**

Edward followed me down the hall and I huffed, turning around to face him. "I can't!"

"Please?" He asked. "Pretty please? I just want to see." He whined, for the first time sounding very much like a teenager. "Pleeeeeease."

"No, I said I can't, Edward. If I show you my affinity, I'll break something." I snapped back. "The only way I can show you without doing that is to absorb the energy from you, which doesn't even effect you because you're a vampire."

Just when I thought I had finally won and got him to stop, a light bulb when off in his head, his lips curling into a grin. "Wait," He said, stepping back a few times. "Then hit me with it. You can't break me."

"Edward…" I sighed. "Can't you just go find Tanya and hang out with her; I'm in the middle of something."

"Just two seconds! You've been searching for a proper summoning spell all day." He said, hopping in place. "Please! I'm bored!"

"No,"

"Please?"

"No,"

"Pleeease?"

"No, Edward. Just cut it out."

"Pleeeeeeeee-"

"_Fine!_" I growled, spinning around with a large, flashing energy ball in my hands, hurling it at Edward.

His eyes grew wide half a second before the energy hit him and took him with it, launching off down the hall and into the wall at the end, smashing him through it. My own eyes widened and I took a worried step forward, looking at all the dry wall and debris in the air. Unruly bronze hair popped out of the hole, and Edward slowly climbed out, waving all the dust and everything away from his face. "Well," He cleared his throat, brushing debris off of him. "Thank you. I'm just going to go find Tanya now."

"Are… are you okay?" I asked hesitantly.

He was doubled over, shaking his head to get everything out of his hair. "No, I'm good. It was my own damn fault anyways."

"Edward, what's…" Tanya trailed off, having come up the stairs. She looked up at the hole in the wall, her brows pulling together, and then down to Edward, before looking over at me. "Bella!"

"He told me to!" I hollered, turning and running off down the hall.

Tanya chased after me as I booked it for my room. "You always do what your friends tell you to?"

"He's _your_ boyfriend! Yell at him!" I called, slamming my door closed and pushing up against it as she tried to barge in.

The door opened as she threw herself against it, managing to get her arm inside. I screamed and Shimmered, watching as it swung open.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

"Say cheese!"

Alice giggled into my ear as I stumbled forward a step, my hands instinctively grabbing her legs that wrapped around my waist while she held a camera in front of us, resting her chin on my shoulder and her cheek against my cheek. A bright light flashed and I blinked furiously. "Alice…?"

"I'm taking pictures!" She chimed, still on my back. "See; we have a bunch of pictures of our family all over, and you have a bunch of you and your sisters, but we don't have any of us together. So, I figured I'd start taking pictures. Smile!"

Not being a smiler, I frowned into the camera. "I don't smile."

"Not willingly apparently, you big grump." She huffed, her ebony locks of hair hanging down and tickling my face. "But maybe…" She trailed off and a second later I was giggling and laughing, her fingers ticking me as she buried her face in my neck, knowing it was sensitive and tickling too.

"Alice -hehehe- stop, no -hahahahaha!- please no…" I cried, trying to grab her, spinning around and around in the middle of the living room. "Nooooo!" I cried, laughing so hard there were tears in my eyes.

"Wait, don't step be-" We both ended up laughing as we crashed to the ground, me tripping over the leg of the coffee table. She managed to wrestle her way on top of my, sitting on my stomach with the camera in front of her face, flashing away as she took pictures of me laughing below her. "Smile for the camera, Bella!" She giggled.

"You little butt!" I laughed, gasping in breath and rolled us over. I grabbed the camera from her hand, this time taking pictures of her while she wiggled beneath me. "Not so fun now, is it?" I cackled.

Before she rolled us over again, because I knew she very well could what with her strength, I hopped and and made a run for it. Alice kept laughing, slowly getting to her feet as I made my way for the hall. "You can run, but you can't hide, Bella. The camera will find you."

**XXxxXXxxXX**

"How has your Christmas break been going so far?" Angela asked.

Tanya and I were out for the day; I needed more jars for the attic and… well, Tanya jumped at the chance to go shopping every time she could. We were finished for the day, but stopped in at the diner for hot chocolate on our way home. It was freaking cold out, man. Angela and Ben had been in there too, and having not spoken to them for a while, we decided to catch up.

"It's _much_ colder than Phoenix," Tanya said and those two laughed, nodding. "But nice. I'm enjoying Forks quite a bit, actually.

"It does grow on you." Ben agreed. "What about you, Bella? How are you liking winter here in Forks."

I thought back to playing hide and seek in the snow with Alice, or having a snowball fight with Edward, Emmett, and Jasper. "It's great." I grinned. "Real fun."

Angela cleared her throat, blushing a little bit. "So we've heard through the grape vine that you're…um, dating Alice." She said quietly.

"Heard from who?" I asked quizzically. 'Cause it hadn't come up yet with anyone. We hadn't told anyone, and it wasn't like we were acting any differently than when we weren't. Other than at Jessica's party, but that was just cuddling, and Alice always did that, even before. Angela just shrugged and I huffed, nodding. Now it was going to bother me; wondering who told who and how it got all the way to Angela. "Well yeah, I am."

"Congratulations, then." She smiled widely. Even Ben held up a hand for a high five.

Tanya grinned over at me when I raised an eyebrow and looked at her. Hesitantly, I smiled back and gave Ben the high five.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

"Over and over, I fall for you." I sang into the spray of water in the shower.

Yes, I had the habit of singing in the shower. It was bad.

Not my singing, well, I've been told that I've got a nice singing voice. But it was bad how much I sang in the shower.

But I couldn't not. The second I stepped in and turned on the water, I started belting out lyrics left and right.

Maybe because I felt weird when I didn't. Just standing there, shampooing your hair in silence. Quietly waiting around and washing your body while you leave the conditioner in for a couple minutes.

So much silence, even for me, is weird.

And my cure for that is singing. Loudly.

I don't just mean quietly singing the words. I'm talking; top of your lungs, depths of your stomach, vibrating on the shower door, rocking out. A little air guitar, holding onto the wall to dance around and not slip.

I'm a rocker at heart, and that shows while I'm in the shower.

Big time.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

My fingers shook with nervousness, my heart pounding in my ears as I stared down at the sleek, ivory keys of the piano. Slowly, I lifted my eyes from the keys, reluctantly meeting a pair of golden ones. Alice, in a skirt and a white blouse, was laying back on the piano, her head lolled to the side to watch me. A smile pulled at her lips as she beamed at me and I feebly smiled back.

Clearing my throat, I placed my fingers over the keys again, hesitating once before I started playing.

Steadily, my fingers glided over the keys. I watched them, though I could have closed my eyes; I knew this song by heart, and felt my nervousness dissipate slightly. Playing always put me at ease.

When I looked up, Alice was looking up at the ceiling but slowly closed her eyes, that smile still tugging at her lips.

Again, the rest of my nerves settled and I loosened up, relaxing. My fingers slowly flew over the keys, my eyes drifting shut as I found my voice. "Under your spell again, I can't say no to you. Crave my heart and it's bleeding in your hands, I can't say no to you…"

Alice watched me play the entire song, I could feel it, but I didn't dare open my eyes once. My voice would surely crack and die in my throat if I tried singing while she was watching me.

By the time I was done, she was on the bench next to me, leaning into my side. "That was beautiful." She murmured quietly.

Blushing, I scratched the back of my neck. "Er, thanks. I-it was Good Enough by Evanescence. You should listen to it; I don't do it justice."

"I guarantee that's not true, Bella." Alice smiled sweetly.

"Th-thanks." I muttered, my eyes falling back down to the keys. "Do you know… this song?" I asked, tapping the keys in a more upbeat fashion.

Alice grinned, rolling her eyes at me, and lifted her hands to the keys. "You're such a dork."

**XXxxXXxxXX**

"I'm having a big case of de ja vous, guys." I said, staring at the screen.

Emmett snorted, furiously mashing buttons on his controller.

We were gathered at the Cullens' this time, waiting for Carlisle to get home. Apparently every month, the Cullens had this big baseball game they did. They even had this trophy that they bought, for the winners to have in their rooms for the month until the next game. Unfortunately, with the snow they couldn't play baseball. Well, they could, but we couldn't, and they wanted to include us now.

So instead we were having and enormous snowball fight.

Win.

However, Carlisle was taking forever to get back, so everyone kind of branched off to go do whatever until he got home.

Naturally, Emmett, Jasper, Edward, and I all sat down on the couch in front of the TV and started gaming. It wasn't _exactly_ the same as last time though, seeing as this time Alice was sitting in my lap with the controller in my hands on _her_ lap. Tanya was also clinging to Edward in the loveseat, Kate leaning up against Jasper on the couch next to me, and Emmett sitting on the ground in front of Rosalie's feet, who was sitting on the lazy boy, reading a book and playing with his hair every now and then.

"Son of a bitch!" Edward growled, glaring at the screen. "Another damn land mine; it's like I'm a mine magnet."

Jasper and I snickered at him while Emmett's character popped out of nowhere and shot Edward's, killing him. "Got'cha good!" He boomed out.

Alice giggled and I turned my head, looking at her curiously. "Emmett's going to lose." She whispered.

"Hey! What? How?" Emmett whined, looking up at us.

Jasper chuckled, sniping Emmett's player's head. "That's how, my friend."

Esme entered the room, smiling at us all. "Are you girls hungry? Can I make you something before we leave?"

I shook my head while Tanya and Kate told her they were fine. "I'm coming to get you." I smirked at Jasper.

"I don't think so, Bella." He challenged.

And so it began…

"SHOOT! SHOOT DAMMIT! SHOOT!" Emmett screamed at the screen, jumping up and down behind the couch. His large arm shot out between me and Kate, pointing at the screen. "THERE! SHOOT THERE!"

"Emmett, stop yelling!" Jasper yelled back. "I've got this."

My player tossed the grenade.

"NO!" Jasper screamed, running from the explosion.

Everyone was huddled around the couch, unconsciously leaning towards the screen. Even Esme.

Both Jasper and I were running out of bullets and health, most of the area around our characters on fire. It was an intense fight, even more intense than usual because all the Cullens started betting on who would win. I wasn't so confident that would be me anymore, since Alice refused to say who would beat who.

My player caught up to Jasper who took out his machine gun, and we both charged; bullets flying, characters bleeding and crying out. Both of our health was steadily dropping, only a sliver left for both. I took out my magnum-

The screen went full with static before the TV, X Box, and lights flickered before going out.

Everyone continued staring at the screen for a few moments.

"Huh." Jasper murmured into the silence.

Alice was the first to break into giggles. "The breaker burnt."

"Come on!" Emmett huffed, slamming his hand down onto the back of the couch. He winced when it cracked, looking up to Esme with guilty eyes.

Everyone laughed, getting up to start getting ready. Carlisle could join us when he got there, but it was getting darker by the hour and Esme didn't want us Witches out after dark. Without the sun up, it was even colder out.

Alice danced off to get her coat from the closet while I started pulling on mine. It was a warmer one, with my hooded sweater underneath, a pair of gloves, black jeans, and my combat boots. Jasper gave me a smile, patting my shoulder as he went to go grab his coat. It was mostly for show with those guys, seeing sat the cold didn't really effect them like it did me or Tanya and Kate.

Speaking of which…

Tanya threw a blue beanie at me, smiling rightly. "Don't want your ears getting cold."

I huffed, looking at the blue beanie and then down to the rest of my clothes. None of which were blue, but all black. With another huff and grumble, I pulled it on, down over my ears and glared at her as I made my way to the door. "Babying me all the time…" I grumbled.

"Damn straight; you're my little sister and I'll baby you as much as I want, because you're so _cute._" She laughed, pinching my cheek. I slapped her hand away with another glare, though the smile on my face gave me away.

"Let's get this show on the road." Kate hollered, opening the door and skipped down the porch.

We were all filing out into the front yard when Alice froze up on the porch still. I looked over curiously, already forming a snow ball in my hands, getting ready to pelt Emmett with it. Her golden eyes were unfocused and clouded over, shifting back and forth as she watched a scene none of us could see. She slowly came back, her eyes growing wide and her head whipping up to look at me. "Bella!" She screamed, reaching out for me.

I didn't have time to be confused, because the next thing I knew, there was a large man in black tackling Emmett to the ground. And then there was another, grabbing Edward, and another one holding his hand out and jerking it to the side, sending Jasper flying off. A couple more appeared, one of them grabbing Kate. "No!" I screamed, thrusting my hand out. A wall of energy sent the man flying off into the yard, and that kick started it all.

Emmett rolled both him and the man over, raising his fist, but the man Blinked, evidently a warlock, leaving Emmett looking at nothing and very confused. The warlock appeared behind him, kicking Emmett face first into the snow, Blinking again.

That's what they all were doing, I realized. Blinking and doing what they could before Blinking again, not giving any of the Cullens time to retaliate.

"Bella!" Alice screamed again, blurring towards me, only for that one Warlock to jerk his hand backwards, pulling Alice back towards him. Telekinesis.

My face contorted into rage at the sight of him using it on Alice. An energy ball formed in my hands, flickering and flashing with sparks that I hurled towards him. He Blinked, and the place he was standing exploded with snow instead. A rough hand grabbed my arm, pulling me up against a hard, warm chest. I pressed my palm against him, sending him flying off.

I ducked in time to see a large fire ball fly overhead, watching the man behind me Blink away. Tanya was getting much better at aiming.

Jasper ducked and managed to grab one of the Warlocks, his hand grabbing him by the neck as he snarled. My eyes widened in shock, seeing the animalistic side of Jasper. Seeing the actual vampire. His fangs elongated while he snarled up in the Warlock's face again, the Warlock looking like he was going to faint. He Blinked first, taking both him and Jasper, reappearing across the yard. Dazed, Jasper let go and stumbled a few steps, no fast enough to catch the Warlock again.

"Ow!" Another screamed, cradling his hand to his chest after trying to grab Kate and being electrocuted.

Rosalie grabbed him, twisting around and hurling him off into the porch in one, fluid motion. She crouched down, hissing at the next one before blurring off after him.

With a growl, Edward threw another one off of Tanya and into the woods behind the house. He charged, snarling.

"Bella…" Alice cried, only a few feet way from me, reaching for me desperately.

I reached for her hand as well, only to be yanked back by nothing, across the yard. I landed in a heap, rolling over to my side to look up at one of the Warlocks. He Blinked before I could do anything.

"Someone grab Bella!" Alice screamed.

Tanya's head whipped around to look at Alice and then to me, being the closest. She took a step before her path was blocked. The Witch from before stood there with her hands on her hips, a smirk pulling at her lips. "I don't think so." She said, jerking her hand out and sent Tanya flying back.

"Stop using my affinity!" I snarled, getting to my feet to charge at her.

She spun out of the way, grabbing my shoulders and yanked me to the ground. "Don't fight me," She warned, caressing the side of my face. I shook my head, pushing her off of me. She frowned, Blinking away.

"Cowards!" Emmett boomed, trying desperately to get his hands on someone. They all kept Blinking though, making it difficult to even touch them.

I got to my feet again, lifting my hands up, palms out, and closed my eyes. I could feel everyone's energy, the Cullens' more active and never fading, my sisters' fading faster than the Warlocks. I concentrated on the Warlocks, feeling their energy, and started sucking it away from them. Their movements suddenly slowed, just barely, but enough. Emmett grabbed one, and the rest flew off backwards wherever they we when I shoved my hands forward, shooting their energy back at them.

Gasping, my eyes flew back open, a large hand grabbing both of my, crossing my arms over my chest and yanking my hands bend my back. "Get off!" I screamed, trying to struggled.

"Bella!" Alice screamed again, getting up from the ground while Telekinesis Warlock was down. Her eyes were wide and frantic as the Witch appeared in front of my again, holding a white handkerchief over my mouth and nose. I furiously tried shaking my head, but she held it firm against me.

Slowly, my eyes dropped shut and I slumped forward against the Witch.

"BELLA!"

**XXxxXXxxXXxxXX**

**BAM! **

**There you have it folks; the dramatic turn! Things shall get intense from here out. Hopefully. Maybe just dramatic. Or sad. Haven't decided yet. **

**So, review and stuff. Guess what's going to happen. Your feelings on it. Etc. Bommm bommm bommmmmmm. **

**-Paige.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

The cackling of a fire woke me up; that and the very heavy silence that accompanied it. The kind that you can almost feel.

My eyes fluttered open, everything bleary and foggy as the traces of chloroform left their imprint, difficult to shake off. Black jeans…? Was this my lap?

Images bombarded my brain, scenes of the previous-?-day flooding me; gaming with Emmett, Jasper, and Edward. Heading outside for the snowball fight. The Warlocks. Alice screaming, so desperate to reach me. The Witch. The handkerchief. Then nothing.

With a gasp, my head whipped up and around, taking in my setting as I blinked furiously, trying to clear my vision. I was in some kind of…hut, I think. The floor was old, dusty, and wooden, along with the walls; the colour of the wood fading. Even the chair I was sitting in seemed old, if large, along with the one next to me. There was a fireplace in front of me, the source of the cackling as heat of the flames tickled my cheeks and face. I realized that I was no longer in my big warm coat or the beanie; just my heads, hoodie, and glasses. Even my shoes were gone.

Seriously, who takes someone's shoes? That's just weird.

Metal clinked together as I tried to raise my hands, my brows furrowing as I looked down. Large metal, or maybe iron - they felt too heavy, clasps were cuffed around each of my wrists, a large and heavy chain on each flowing down beneath the floorboards. I tried to lift my hands again, but could barely get them higher than the arms of the wooden chair before there was no more length of chain. My heartbeat spiked in fear, but I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. I needed to be in control, to stay calm and no be panicked. I needed a clear head if I was going to get out of here. So, shoving the fear and other frantic emotions to the corners of my mind, I looked around the room again, as best I could not being able to get up and turn around.

There was a poor excuse for a kitchen at the far end of the cabin; a few counters, cupboards, an old stove, and a table with more chairs around it. A shelf or two appeared on the walls; nothing but little nicknacks cluttering it, no information I could use to try and figure out where the hell I was. Other than that, there was one door, one window and only a bunch of trees visible out it, and a couch a few feet behind my chair and the empty one next to me.

I lifted my hands again, pulling on the chains, but they were formidable.

"You're awake!"

Jumping out of my skin, I yipped and looked over to the previously empty seat beside me, now filled. A girl sat there, watching me with a warm smile. Her hair was long, down to her waist, looking almost shiny it was so soft. Her skin was dark, a tattoo of a wolf howling at the moon on her arm. Her even darker eyes regarded me with affection, her lips pulling back to reveal pearly whites as she beamed at me. "Why are you still playing games?" I snarled, though my voice cracking didn't help the intimidating image I was trying to go for.

She batted her eyelashes. "Playing games, what do you mean?" She asked.

"I know you're a Witch and I know what you look like. Why are you still using masks?" I huffed, glaring at her.

Her eyebrows tugged together in confusion. "It's for you. Do you… do you not like this one either?" She asked, looking down at herself, searching for flaws.

But that sounded familiar…

My eyes widened. "Alex?"

"Did you want me to go back to her again?" She asked, with a hopeful glint in the eye. "Or find a new one? Do you like blondes?"

"Stop!" I shouted, shaking my head. "I don't…. I don't understand." I spoke quietly once she finished talking, my confusion evident in my voice.

She tilted her head to the side, scooting her chair closer to mine, a little in front of me. I eyed her wearily and she smiled softly. "I go out, and when I see someone I want to be, I just…" She closed her eyes, her body trembling before it started shifting. I squeezed my eyes closed, turning my head away. "Become them."

Tanya's voice made me gasp yet again and my eyes flew open, taking in the strawberry blonde hair, the red streaks, the blue and green eyes of my sister. Everything was exactly the same, down to the details. My eyes traced over her features, trying to find something different, something wrong, but everything was just Tanya. Down to the birthmarks, to the scars, even the tattoo on her hand of our covenant crest. Said hand came up, cupping the side of my face.

"Don't." I spat, turning my head to the side, her hand falling from it. "She'll find you. Both of them will, and my sisters aren't the type of people you want to piss off, which you've just royally done." I growled. "Not to mention the Cullens."

She laughed, and I mean really _laughed_; throwing her head back, her whole body shaking. "Even if they _do_ manage to find us; I've seen what your sisters can do. They've denied and resented the Witch in them for years. Just recently have they accepted it. They're novices. Fools playing with magic. They aren't like you and I, Isabella; they can't comprehend the power." She smiled, setting her elbow on one of the arms of the chair I was in, leaning in close. "But we don't have to worry about teaching them lessons any time soon; they _won't_ find this hut." She pointedly looked around the room.

My eyes followed, taking in the crystals in the corners everywhere. "What do you want?" I muttered, glaring back at her. "What do you _want_ from us!" I screamed in her face. I was so sick of this, so sick of her.

"Not from them, Isabella!" She growled, a glare taking purchase on her face for the first time. "I don't want anything from _them_. You, it's always been you. I want you."

"You can't have me!" I kicked her chair, sending her toppling backwards out of it, very nearly into the fire place. Before she could get up, I Shimmered-

Or, at least, tried to.

Screaming out in pain, I gripped the arms of the chair, clenching my jaw.

The Witch slowly got to her feet, smoothing down her hair casually. "Not unlike that day in the kitchen with Kate, is it?" She laughed, picking up the chair and putting it back. "There's so much more to those chains than there appears, my love. Anti-magic if you will." She chuckled again. "I wouldn't try that again; when taking them, I was led to believe the effects are…agonizing, as you probably well know. So do try to refrain from using affinities, teleporting, or being summoned, because I hate to see you in such pain, my love." She cooed, running a hand through my hair as I slowly unclenched my jaw, feeling the aftereffects of it.

"Who are you?" I cried, shaking my head furiously. "I've never met you! How can you want me if I've never even met you!"

"You _still_ don't get it. You _still_ don't see _me_, Isabella." She sighed, circling my chair. "That's all I've ever wanted. For you to notice _me_, and not that little tramp of yours. Is that so much to ask for? A simple glimpse? A smile? To give _me_ the love you give her?" She growled. She stopped in front of my chair, leaning down so she was face to face, glaring fiercely at me. "But no; you spend all your time staring at _her_, at Alice. Leaving me for her. Cancelling on me for her. Hanging up on me to talk to her. Ignoring me for her!" She yelled.

"I don't even know you!" I screamed back. "I - what?" My jaw fell open, my throat closing up as she changed her appearance again. I took in the familiar brown eyes, the mousy brown hair, everything in a numb shock. "J-Jessica?"

"_Now_ you see," She laughed humourlessly. "Now that I've had to spell it out. Now that I _finally_ have your attention. Now that we're, for once, alone." She cooed, her fingers trailing up my arm. "But I forgive you, my love. I understand that it wasn't your fault. Pesky sisters keeping you from me, and me from you. Pesky Cullens distracting you. But I've taken care of that now; you're free to love me, and I you."

I shook my head. "But I don't. I won't ever. I-I-I'm Alice's, and no one else's. You need to know that, Jessica. I w-will never-"

My cheek stung, throbbing in time with my pulse as she lowered her hand back down away from it. "I will _make_ you, or we'll _both_ die trying." She snarled.

Before I could respond, I was screaming again, gripping the arms of the chair for something to hold onto as the searing, white hot pain shot through my body again. "Hmm, you sisters have horrible timing, my love. I hope, for your sake, that they stop trying to summon you soon…"

Jessica's voice faded off into the background, the agonized screaming filling my ears as tears streamed down my cheeks.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

Alice watched for the second time, in horror, as Bella's eyes fluttered shut, her body slumping forward into the smaller girl's. She couldn't do anything but watch as her Bella, her happiness, her love, her life, disappeared with the girl, leaving behind only thin air. The snow crunched beneath her as she fell to her knees in the middle of their yard, her arms that were once outstretched and reaching for Bella, falling limp at her sides. The snarling, growling, and yelling of her family fighting off these…people, all faded away into nothing as she stared where Bella was just moments ago. But now was gone.

Gone.

Alice's chest ached, feeling the gaping hole in her that should be filled with her mate. But it was gone, with Bella. Like a big chunk of _her_ was gone, ripped off from the rest. Bella had taken it and disappeared, leaving Alice empty, void of everything.

Everything but the vampire.

Golden eyes, with honey specs in them started filling with ink black pools, spreading out until onyx eyes were glaring at nothing. Her lip curled back over elongated fangs that were growing, a snarl erupting form her chest. The vampire's head whipped up, black eyes tracking the movements of one of the men, muscles straining, ready to spring.

The warlock was a second too late in Blinking, screaming out as bones in his chest were broken, having been tackled by a statue. He looked up into pitiless, livid eyes, swallowing loudly and glancing nervously at the fangs. "Wh-wh-"

Alice's hands, in a vice like grip around the warlock's throat, squeezed ever so slightly, enough to cut off his words. "Where is she?" She hissed.

The warlock shook his head, opening his mouth to answer but no words could come out.

Snarling down in his face, the vampire squeezed tighter. "_Where is she?_"

"Let him go, Alice." Edward leaned down, firmly gripping his sister's shoulder. She jerked out of his hand, hissing up at him. Edward was slightly shocked, stepping backwards, having to see this side of his younger sister. The happy-go-lucky Alice, who was a carefree, dancing, giggling, little fireball of energy, a pixie with a never dimming smile. To see her replaced by this savage, snarling, beast he knew each one of his family members caged and hid deep within them. He had seen snippets of them, each of them at different times throughout his vampiric life, catching a thought from the vampire side now and then, but never Alice. She was the only vampire he knew who didn't have any connection or recollection of being a human, yet held onto her humanity the easiest. Still, in an attempt to try and calm her, Edward placed his hand back on her shoulder. "He doesn't know anything, Alice. None of them do; they were paid to attack and distract us, they don't know anything else."

Looking around the yard, Alice was only met with the sympathetic faces of her family; all the warlocks gone, just like her Bella. The thought made her cringe, a spike of hurt flickering in her, soon swallowed up by the rage. "They have to know!" She growled, glaring back down at the man on the ground beneath her.

The warlock shook his head, his face white as a ghost as he looked to Edward for help. Edward ran a hand through his hair, sighing deeply. "He doesn't know. Let him go, Alice." He managed to coax her into his arms, hugging her tight to him as she broke down and started to sob. The warlock Blinked, taking his chance and getting out of there while he still could. "I'm so sorry, Alice. I was too distracted to pick up your thoughts during the vision. She was right beside me…"

"Perhaps we should get inside; Tanya is hurt and Kate isn't conscious." Esme said softly, holding Kate in her arms while Jasper had his nose buried in his elbow, staring at Tanya with dark eyes. There was a small gash above her left eye, and it was testing his control.

Edward, with Alice, blurred back into the house and up the stairs to Carlisle's office where he knew there was a first aid kit. Alice stood in the doorway, staring at nothing, while she waited for him to gather everything and the two made their way to the living room. Kate was laying on the couch with her head in Jasper's lap as he stroked her face lovingly, staring down at her worriedly. He glanced up at Edward and then Alice, smiling feebly. "She's alright; using her affinity just took a lot of energy. She just needs some rest." He said quietly. Edward could pick up the uncertain thoughts in his mind though and frowned deeply before he shook it off.

Nodding, Edward left Alice by the couch, blurring over to the love seat where Tanya sat, staring at Kate. "Carlisle will be home very soon, I can hear him."

The room was quiet, everyone too absorbed in the events that just took place and their thoughts.

Emmett was the one to break it, his voice angered, but quiet. "What just happened?" He huffed. "How did… and they…why…"

Tanya, still staring at Kate's unconscious face, responded absently. "They were Warlocks. Like us, Witches, but different. They don't usually have affinities, and are more commonly immune to them, but they're skilled teleporters. Usually they're hired as henchmen, Wiccan henchmen. You couldn't catch them because they kept Blinking; it's like Shimmering but much quicker, and more difficult."

The room was plunged back into silence again.

Emmett met Rosalie's eyes briefly before shifting his to Jasper's and then to Esme's as he bit his lip.

"Why are we just sitting here?" Alice hissed from the other side of the room, glaring at everyone. "She has Bella. Bella's gone and we're just sitting here!"

Jasper, attempting to calm Alice down, used his gift only to have it shoved back into his face. "Alice-"

"No; Bella's gone and no one is doing anything about it. We're sitting here talking about how it happened, and not planning on how to fix it." She yelled, turning to glare at Tanya. "She's your sister and all you can do is sit there?"

"What do you expect me to do?" Tanya yelled back, feeling her anger spike. How dare she! How dare she insinuate that Tanya didn't care; Bella was her _sister_. She knew Bella longer than Alice had, loved her more, and Alice had the gall to insinuate otherwise? "_I_ can't do anything; I can barely understand _anything_ in Duchess. The one person who _could_ actually do something was the one who was taken, and the next best thing is unconscious on the couch! I'm trying not to freak out here, I'm trying to think of a way to get my sister back while also trying not to worry about my other one who I watched collapse out in the yard and hasn't stirred since. I'm not some super vampire who can deal with all of this, I need time and-time-I need-there isn't-she's gone and I-" Edward pulled Tanya into his chest while she sobbed uncontrollably, hugging her and glaring at Alice who ducked her head, a sliver of gold returning to her eyes as guilt consumed her.

"I'm sorry, Tanya." She whispered. "I didn't mean… I'm sorry."

Carlisle walked into the room, his eyes wide and alert. "What happened?" He asked, taking in everyone's face, having caught Tanya's little rant. Everyone looked around the room at each other, their faces grave. Rosalie, finally, sighed and began to explain to the head of the house what had just taken place. She told him of the planned snowball fight, the video games, leaving the house, of Alice having her vision, of the attack, and of Bella being taken. All the while Carlisle's face became more and more horrified. At last, when she finished, he ran his hand through his hair, closing his eyes. He looked over to Alice, who was quiet yet again, seemingly struggling between feeling numb and feeling rage. He placed his hand on her shoulder, frowning down at her. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to help, Alice. I was about to leave when one of my patients had a heart attack, I was summoned back to bring him back from the attack."

Tanya's head whipped up, her bloodshot eyes staring at Carlisle. "Summoned." She repeated. He furrowed his brows, nodding. "No, summoned! Summoning! We can summon Bella back!" She said, racing over to Jasper and Kate, who still hadn't woken up. "The rest of you get to the manor, we'll meet you there." She said, grabbing his hand while he held Kate, Shimmering.

For the second time, Jasper stumbled about, blinking furiously while he cradled Kate to him. "People need to stop doing that." He murmured, taking in the Swan attic again. He spotted the couch, returning to his previous position and laid Kate down again. He closed his eyes, sending out waves of calm while he listened to her heart beat steadily, fighting to drive off everyone else's frantic emotions. The last thing he needed was to lose control around his fragile mate.

Alice was the first to reach the top of the stairs, blurring into the attic. She was looking over Tanya's shoulder a second later, watching her flip through the enormous book. Slowly, the rest of the Cullens all trickled into the room, waiting for Tanya to explain.

Wiping tears from her cheeks, Tanya hauled Duchess to the middle of the room, telling everyone to step back. She jerkily ran over to one of the many shelves, knocking things over and down as she searched for the summoning dust. Finally a jar of white powder appeared and she grabbed it, furiously twisting the lid off. She returned to the middle of the room, sprinkling a thick line around in a circle. She cleared her throat, wiping away more tears. "Th-this should find her wherever she is and bring her back, but if not, I've got another one." She said, flipping more pages. "Emmett, write down an N, E, S, and W like on a compass around the circle please. With this." She said, handing him what looked and felt like chalk.

She found the page, picking up the book and stepped back. The rest of the Cullens looked to one another before stepping back as well, and Tanya cleared her throat a couple times. _"Magic Forces black and white reaching out through space and light, be she far or be she near, bring us the Witch Isabella Marie Swan here."_

Everyone tensed, staring at the circle in the middle of the floor.

Tanya's eyes watered again when nothing happened for a few minutes. "O-okay, I've got an-another." She sniffled, wiping her eyes. _"Powers of the witches' rise. Course unseen across the skies. Come to us, we call you near. Come to us and settle here. Blood to blood, I summon thee. Blood to blood, return to me."_

When nothing happened, again, Tanya fell to her knees, bawling. She slammed Duchess down onto the floor in front of her, tears streaking down her red face as she shook her head. "Why? She yelled. "Why? What's the point of having this power if it doesn't even work!" She screamed. She glared at Duchess, viciously pulling it into her lap. "Bring back my sister, dammit! _Magic Forces black and white reaching out through space and light, be she far or be she near, bring us the Witch Isabella Marie Swan here!_" She glared up at the circle, waiting just a few moments before slamming her hands down onto the book. _" Powers of the witches' rise. Course unseen across the skies. Come to us, we call you near. Come to us and settle here. Blood to blood, I summon thee. Blood to blood, return to me!"_

Tanya threw the book across the room, panting and glaring at it. Her head whipped around, her eyes locking on Kate as she rushed over, crouching in front of the couch. Jasper visibly stiffened, effected by her emotions, but she ignored him and started lightly shaking Kate. "Get up, Kate. Please get up, I need help. Bella needs help. It's your turn, Kate. If Bella can fight your terror for you, than you can wake up for her, can't you? Kate! Please! I can't do this on my own. Please, Kate!" She crying, resting her forehead against her sister's shoulder as she sobbed again.

Carlisle cleared his throat, looking to Edward as he spoke softly. "Take Tanya to her room; she needs to rest. There's nothing more we can do until Kate wakes up, or at least until Tanya is in better conditions." Edward nodded, picking Tanya up in his arms and left the attic. "Emmett, Rosalie, would you be so kind as to stay outside her bedroom tonight; just in case something happens again. I don't want anyone taken by surprise again." They nodded solemnly, following Edward out the door. "Jasper-"

"I know," The vampire replied, getting to his feet with Kate in his arms again, already heading for her bedroom.

Carlisle sighed, running his hand through his hair as he looked to his last child. "Alice, Esme and I will be outside Kate's room if you need anything." She didn't so much as blink. "Please understand that there is nothing _any_ of us can do right now, and that we'll try again later. We _will_ get her back."

Esme embraced Alice tightly before joining Carlisle and heading out of the attic.

Alice stood, staring down at Duchess with a blank face. Slowly, she slid down the wall, sitting in front of it. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath as strawberry freesia, Bella's scent, was wafted from the book at her. She could picture Bella, late at night in a pair of sweats and a T shirt, her glasses sliding down her nose as she curled up on the sofa, studying the book.

Her heart ached and she looked away from Duchess before holding her face in her hands as she quietly started to dry sob.

**XXxxXXxxXXxxXX**

Bella slumped forward in the wooden chair, the end of her last scream dying away in her raw throat. Her face was flushed and covered in sweat, tears running down her cheeks, her eyes bloodshot with bags forming beneath them. Her chest heaved as she gasped in a ragged lungful of air, cringing as her throat burned and stung more with the action.

Layer upon layers of different pain was too much for her, and she felt herself fading, losing consciousness. The cabin started blacking out of her vision, Jessica's profile turning blurry as her eyes fluttered closed.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

**Well.**

**That was…different.**

**Not sure if I like it or not, but it's something alright. I suppose I'll run with it; seems all I can do at the moment. Trying to dance around the writer's black I can feel at the edges of my mind, us that's pretty frustrating. **

**Third person at the end there is on purpose, and I might do it a few more times in Bella's scene. I figure that she's going through/will be going through a lot of stuff that's going to…well, I just don't think there's be much thought, or at least comprehensible non-jumbled thoughts. I don't know, if I was getting all shocked and pumped full of pain like that, I don't think I'd be in my mind; almost like an out of body experience. I wouldn't be thinking much other than pain, that's for sure.**

**Anyways, review and tell me if this sucks as bad as I think it might.**

**-Paige.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

The only sound that could be heard through the entire cabin was the wind blowing a branch against the front window, and deep breathing coming from the couch that could almost be classified as snoring. Chocolate brown and ocean blue eyes flickered around the room, or what little they could, taking in the glowing embers in the fire place that had once been a cackling, dancing fire. The iron chains clinked together quietly as pale hands rose up quietly. The skin of her wrists were red, like an angry rash, dried crimson blood on the cuffs and her skin from yanking and trying to free herself from the restraints. Bella bit her lip as the burning pain in her wrists flared up, taking a deep, shaky breath before looking over her shoulder; making sure the quiet noise hadn't woke her captor.

Panic welled up in her chest as she took in the empty couch out of the very corner of her eye. She held her breath, listening for the snoring, her eyes watering in its absence. She turned the other way, craning her neck to try and locate the Witch. She frantically turned this way and that way, tugging and pulling at her chains in her frenzy to find the Witch.

"Good afternoon, my love." Jessica's voice rang out through the hut. Bella jumped in the wooden chair, her head snapping forward to look at the girl standing in front of the fire place. "I thought for sure you would be out until late this evening. You're much stronger than I would have thought." She praised, smiling sweetly.

Bella shook her head, sweat dripping down her neck. "N-n-no… don't. P-pl-p-please don't. No more."

Jutting out her bottom lip, Jessica pouted at the worn girl slumped in the wooden chair. "But I went out and bought a new colour." She wiggled her fingers, the pale pink reflecting the glowing light from the embers.

"No more t-tricks… no more magic…" Bella begged, her terror filled eyes tracking the pale pink fingernails.

With a bored sigh, Jessica placed one hand on the arm of the chair, leaning forward until her face was nearly an inch from Bella's. "What kind of Witch doesn't like playing with magic? Certainly not you, my love. I've seen you. Watched you. You thrive on magic; all your experiments. All your books. Studying them. Learning from them." The corner of her mouth curved up into a smirk. "Learn from me, now. Study my magic; don't fight it."

"It's not… n-not magic." Bella weakly protested, flinching as Jessica's other hand rose up to eye level. "Fingers like snakes in m-my head. I can't th-think. It's not right…you're wrong."(1)

Jessica's head tilted to the side as she studied the brunette in front of her. The purple bags under her eyes that were starting to look almost black. Her pale skin looking ill, all clammy with the faintest blue tint to it. Her chocolate brown and ocean blue eyes losing that little light in them; the curious and intrigued look they always held as the girl took in the world, seeing it from a different angle than most. Her bottom lip slightly swollen and constantly blood red from biting it so much. "My, but I must compliment such resolve, such will. It's been, what, nearly twenty hours now. I'm surprised you haven't broke yet."

"I won't." Bella shook her head, glaring as fiercely as she could. "You can't make me. You won't make me."

Jessica laughed quietly, her eyes flickering over to her fingers. "Time will tell." She murmured, touching the tips of her glossy, pale pink fingernails to the side of Bella's face.

Her breath caught in her throat as Bella's muscles tensed, her eyes losing focus. They shifted back and forth as Jessica, the fire place, and the rest of the hut all blurred together.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

Ocean blue and moss green eyes blinked sleepily as the murky grips of the dream realm slipped and dissipated from Tanya's mind. Attempting to will it back and hide from reality, she burrowed deeper against the stone chest that vibrated with a deep chuckle. She gave up with a sigh, craning her neck back far enough to lazily glare into the golden pools of her boyfriend's eyes. "You're only laughing because you can't sleep." She muttered in a rough voice. "If you could; you'd sympathize with the pain of having to wake up."

Smiling his dazzling crooked grin at the sleepy strawberry blonde, Edward hugged her tighter to him. "You know, Kate tells Jasper that she loves waking up. So she gets to see him. I would have thought you'd be just as excited to see me as well." He pouted, though the mirth swimming in his eyes took any seriousness and tossed it out the window.

Tanya rolled her eyes, sitting up and stretched. She smirked when she felt his eyes on her, glancing down into his ever darkening eyes. "You being in the dream there with me defeats the purpose of having to wake up to see you."

She hopped off the bed, padding across the room to her wardrobe and started rifling though it. "But that's not the real me." Edward drawled, relaxing back against the mattress, crossing his arms behind his head as he watched the young girl get to work on picking out her outfit for the day. "I get it; you're just with me for my looks. You'd jump at the chance to get with a fake replica in your sleep."

"Well I'm certainly not sticking around for your great sense of humour." Tanya jibed, pulling on a pair of jeans. "Honestly, you and Bella really suck at setting up your jokes. You-" The tank top in her hands fell to the floor as Tanya gasped, stumbling back into her wardrobe. "Bella…" She whispered.

In a blur, Edward was in front of her, pulling Tanya into his chest to hold her tight. "I'm sorry," He murmured into her hair. "I tried to distract you as long as I could."

Her eyes narrowed as she fought to get out of his grip. Taking the hint, Edward stepped back, looking at the floor. "Why? Why would you do that? We need to do something right now!"

"Because there is nothing we _can _do right now, love. Not yet." Edward said, reaching out for her. She stepped back, not dropping her glare. "Kate is still unconscious, Alice has been trying to find Bella through her visions but hasn't had any luck yet, Carlisle and Esme have been calling around and seeing if she turned up anywhere, and both Rosalie and Emmett are scanning and going over the area all over both houses, trying to find something. Maybe a clue. Anything we can use. But right now all we can do is wait and I was trying to keep you calm and distracted so you wouldn't be freaking out the entire time. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. I'm sorry." Tanya said, walking back into his arms. She rested her head against his chest, breathing in his scent to try and calm herself. "I just wish Kate would wake up."

Edward nodding, rubbing soothing circles on her back. "I know, I do too. But she has a concussion and Carlisle doesn't expect her to wake up any time soon. Not unless you've got awakening magic dust or something."

Awakening dust.

Awakening.

Awakening spell.

"I'm so stupid!" Tanya groaned, slapping her forehead as she grabbed Edward's hand and ran from her room. The confused vampire watched her as she pulled him down the hall to the stairs. There was never a moment he wished he could use his gift on Tanya; he enjoyed the quiet and the companionship at the same time. Not knowing what she was going to say until she said it. How she felt. What she thought. Not until now. He wanted to know what made her switch from gloom and doom to determined and hopeful.

The door of the attic swung open with a bang as she released his hand, scanning the room for Duchess. Her heart clenched when she found it, and the little Pixie rocking back and forth in front of it. Alice's hair was dishevelled, and not in the styled way it usually was. This was quite close to bedhead, actually. The purple bags under her eyes were looking darker and darker as the seconds ticked by, her once glowing golden eyes now a deep, pitiless black, void of anything. Empty and glassy, shifting back and forth as they searched the future for her mate.

Tanya crouched down beside Alice, briefly resting her hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. "I'm going to bring back my baby sister, Alice. For you. For Kate. And for me." She murmured quietly before scooping the large spell book into her arms and raced back out of the room. Edward continued to follow his Witch down the hall, glancing worriedly back to the attic where his lost sister sat. They needed to find Bella. Soon. She was the only one who could bring Alice back, he was sure.

"What-" Jasper's question was cut off as he sprung to his feet and stood beside the bed next to the unconscious Kate. He looked to Edward who shrugged and then to Tanya, her emotions hitting him like a brick wall. He absently reached up to his chest, glancing down at the large book in her arms and then to her sister laying on the bed.

Tanya launched onto the bed, whipping the blankets and sheets off of her sister, yanking all the pillows away. "Jasper, go to Bella's room and her closet. She keeps a trunk of her own Wiccan things in there; grab me the jar of light blue looking dust. Edward, I need a glass of water."

"Why?" Carlisle asked as he and Esme swept into the room, watching his sons blur off to follow her instructions. "What is going on?"

Pursing her lips, Tanya tucked Kate's pale blond hair behind her ears, smiling softly at the black streaks. "Water is a healing element." She replied. She blinked back the sting of tears in her eyes, fiercely grabbing onto the diminishing hope she still had left. "Bella taught me that once. Water is healing. Earth is strength. Wind is wisdom. Fire is passion."

Both Edward and Jasper placed the things on the bedside table, taking a few steps back. Edward glanced back at Emmett and Rosalie in the doorway, hearing both of their mental questions, but shook his head, looking back to the sisters.

Tanya dipped her fingers into the glass of water, sweeping a line across Kate's forehead. She paused, glancing over her shoulder at the blonde doctor who was watching her with rapt attention and curiosity. "Concussions are in the head, right? Not anywhere else?"

"No, not anywhere else." Carlisle replied.

With a nod, she grabbed a pinch of blue dust from the jar, holding it above her sister. _"Troubled blood with sleep's unease, remove the cause of this disease. Sleep eternal nevermore, and shift this source of illness borne, to something whom none shall mourn."_ Slowly, she sprinkled the blue dust over the line of water, watching it sparkle and catch the light.

Everyone stood in utter silence, waiting for something, _anything_ to happen.

And oddly enough, even the vampires jumped once it did.

With a gasp and yelp of fright, Kate sprung up into a sitting position, knocking Tanya backwards onto the bed. She breathed deeply, taking in her room and all the people in it in surprise and confusion. "Wha-"

"KATE!" Tanya screamed, wrapping her arms around her sister and holding her tight as she let her tears fall free once more.

With furrowed brows, Emmett watched the sobbing Tanya cling to her sister and try to form words. He watched his brothers go to comfort them both, Japer telling Kate that she needed to know something. He discreetly crept over to Carlisle, tapping his shoulder. When the blonde doctor's eyes found his own, his face scrunched up in more confusion. "Concussions aren't really diseases, are they?"

With a small chuckle, Carlisle shook his head slightly, his spirits lifting slightly as the goofy grin took purchase on his son's face.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

_The dark and dreary grey sky continued to weep rain drops down onto the town of Forks below, bathing the student school parking lot in puddles. Kids rushed from their vehicles to their school buildings, holding umbrellas over their heads, some wearing hats or hoods, and some using homework as cover. Bella watched them through the windows of the cafeteria with tired eyes, her chin resting in her palm as she propped her elbow up on the table in front of her. Her friends were all talking around her; Angela, Ben, Erik, Tyler, Mike, Lauren, even Jessica was in on the conversation. It was odd; usually her focus remained constantly on Bella as she clung to the Witch. Not today, today she was just another face in the crowd, another voice in the noise._

_Bella shifted in her seat, a sigh escaping her lips. Something was off today. She felt… off. Wrong, almost. It was most unpleasant. _

_Jessica's eyes flickered up to the ocean blue and chocolate brown ones hiding behind glasses. "What's wrong, my love?" She asked, gripping the taller girl's hand in her own._

_"I feel…" Bella glanced down at their hands, turning her head away as a frown pulled at her lips. The action was not comforting. Not in the least; if anything, it made her gut churn. "I don't know, nothing I guess." This was just like any other day; classes, classes, lunch with her friends and Jessica, classes, and more classes. But she felt so tired and drowsy, like she couldn't really concentrate and think. As soon as one solid thought manifested in her mind, it was gone the next second like someone plucked it right from her brain._

_Resting her head on Bella's shoulder, Jessica closed her eyes to focus. "It's because you fight everything, my love. Relax. Go with it. Let go."_

_"Alright." Bella agreed grudgingly. She just needed to stop trying to think so much; it didn't hurt, didn't feel so… weird if she didn't try and think about it. "Just let go." She repeated to herself, closing her eyes and wrapping her arm around Jessica._

_Mike slammed his hand down on the table as he crowed out the punch line to his joke, the others at the table throwing their heads back to laugh. The action made Bella jump and she glared scathingly at the blonde baby face. "Sorry, Bells." Mike smiled, patting her shoulder._

_Grunting, Bella turned her attention elsewhere. Back to the window to watch as everyone ran by. To look at the sky, or rather, the large grey cloud. To look at the trees of the forest on the other side of the parking lot. But even that proved to be boring; the same old same old. Same kids running back and forth. Same umbrellas and coats. Same faces and hair. Same people. Over and over. "That's not right…" She whispered, sitting up straighter in her seat, her arm dropping from Jessica. "It's the same thing over and over again."_

_"Ignore it, Isabella. Here, have some lunch." Jessica quickly interjected, pushing her tray in front of the taller girl. "We can share."_

_Bella's brows furrowed, her frame tensing as she stared at the new car pulling into the parking lot. "What…"_

_Four blurry figures got out of the car, umbrella's over head to block out the rain. She tried focusing on them, tried to make out details of them, their faces. Their images seemed to shimmer and fade every time she did, though. Not concrete enough to hold onto. She could just barely make out blonde hair, a reddish brown, and a hulking frame. _

_"Look at me, Isabella." Jessica demanded. _

_"Who are they?" Bella asked aloud, her eyebrows raising in wonder. She watched as another figure slid out from the sleek car, shocked to see that this one was crystal clear. Her hair cropped short and styled in chaos, dark and black as ink. Silky black bangs fell in glowing golden eyes with lighter specs in them, surrounded by thick black lashes. Her pale skin was flawless, looking like porcelain, her clothes expensive and fashionable, but not obnoxiously so like Lauren and Jessica. Her blood red lips curled up into a warm smile, her eyes sparkling as they captured Bella's and held them._

_"I said look at me, Isabella." Jessica hissed, gripping Bella's face in her hands. "You are __**mine**__and not hers."_

_"Alice," Bella choked out, yanking Jessica's hands from her face. "This is a trick." She glared into Jessica's face. "An illusion of some sort. I am Alice's, not yours. And she's mine. You can't keep me from her."_

"You will love me, Isabella Marie Swan. I swear it!" Jessica screamed, stomping off away from the wooden chair.

Bella was gasping and panting, her hands trying to reach up and hold her head. It felt like her skull was cracked, like someone smashed her head against the floor over and over again. "Let me out of these." She begged, yanking and pulling and tugging at the chains over and over again as tears streamed down her face. "Let me out! _Let me out!_" She screamed. It became like a chant, something repetitious and solid enough to hold onto as she screamed it as loud as she could.

"Tell me you love me." Jessica said quietly, kneeling back down in front of the chair, her eyes beseeching Bella's. "Me and not Alice."

Summoning all the strength she had left in her tired and worn body, her muddled and fractured mind, Bella looked into Jessica's eyes. "I will n-never l-feel that way about you."

Jessica smiled sadly again. "I admire your courage, Isabella, but even you can't keep this up much longer. You _will_ break. Soon." Her eyes burned with anger and desperation, with madness as she reached back up again and placed her hands on either side of Bella's face.

"No!" Bella screamed, her eyes losing focus once more.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

"You can't summon her?" Kate repeated, sitting on the corner of her bed, wrapped up safely in Jasper's arms. "Did you try both spells?"

Tanya nodded, tears still falling now and then; her eyes puffy and red, matching her sister's. "I've tried everything; there has to be crystals or something blocking magic."

The lights over head flickered as Kate glared at the wall. "I'm going to kill that bitch."

"Slowly," Tanya agreed.

Carlisle cleared his throat again, stepping forward slightly. "Girls, I…_may_ have a way to find her. I can't promise any results, since we are dealing in magic here. And if there is results, it may take some time. Longer than we're comfortable with, and the debt would be… great. It isn't something I suggest lightly, and I would like to make sure there is _absolutely_ no other way first."

"What?" Tanya asked when Edward tensed, his eyes widening as he looked at his father. "What is it? I don't care about the debt. Whatever it costs, as long as we get Bella back. I'll do anything."

"He can be here in thirteen hours if you call now."

Everyone's heads whipped around to the doorway and the small pixie standing in it. Alice ran a pale hand through her hair, her eyes still glassy and full of tears that would never fall. She had never looked so small and fragile before. So breakable, like a small breeze would knock her over. Like the slightest touch would shatter her. Her hand was on the door frame, supporting her, the only thing keeping her up on her feet and not crumpled on the floor.

"Oh, Alice." Esme gasped, blurring over and wrapping her youngest child up in her arms. "We'll get her back, honey. Just hang in there a little longer."

Kate glanced at Tanya, then Jasper, then Alice. "Who? Who can be here in thirteen hours?"

Carlisle took one last look at his daughter before turning back to the sisters. "Demetri of the Volturi. He is the best Tracker any of us have ever come across. He just needs something of Bella's and he _will_ find her. It may take some time, though, and then we would all owe Aro and his brothers a favour."

"I take it this isn't a 'give me a ride to the mall' kind of favour." Emmett muttered.

Edward sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Not exactly, Em, no. He deals in more life debts than favours. He may demand to recruit some of us for any length of time."

"Make the call." Rosalie said firmly. Everyone glanced at her, unsure. Even the sisters were weary. She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "Bella is alone. At the very least, with _one_ psycho. Maybe more; there was a group of them, after all. She's somehow blocked your magic _and_ Bella's, who, as far as I can tell, is the best of you all. This bitch means business, and I don't even want to think of what she may be doing to your sister right now. If bringing Bella back as soon as possible means joining the Volturi, then do it. Working for a monster isn't as bad as being rendered helpless at the mercy and sick pleasure of one." She looked up at Carlisle, her eyes hard. "Make the call. Now."

Hesitating for half a second, Carlisle blurred out of the room.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

**This chapter is shorter than the last. Maybe the shortest of the entire story, I'm not quite sure. I apologize for that, though. But it is what it is, and at least you've got a chapter, right? That's what counts. Considering the writer's block, anyways.**

**Sooo… let me know what you think about it? Stuff that should be added? Should I ease up on the crazy with Bella and Jessica? Throw a bigger pile of madness on it?**

**The spells and whatnot aren't mine; they belong to whoever wrote them in Charmed. Which is a fantastical show; y'all should watch it.**

**Third person will continue into the next chapter still. That way I don't have to deal with the awkward P.O.V changes.**

**(1) - anyone recognize any part of that sentence? If you do, you're a geek like me. But don't worry; geeks are in nowadays. **

**Remember to review! :D**

**-Paige.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

JESSICA

"You said it would be over by now!" Jessica fumed. She paced the the mansion's front foyer, clenching her fists and glaring at anything she could. "You said a day. Maybe, _maybe_ a few hours longer. It's been two!" She screamed.

The old man only watched his grand-daughter have her fit, waiting patiently for her to calm down. "My little darling, you said she was just a novice." He replied in a deep voice. "That if you took away her siblings, she would be susceptible. Obviously this Witch is stronger than you gave credit."

"Not stronger than _me_!" She growled. "The strongest Witches on the council could only _hope_ to achieve the ability to do the magic we do. She should be _mine_, deeply in love with _me_ as we speak, and instead she is mumbling about…Alice," She spat the name out like a disease. "In her sleep."

The old man scratched his chin, the white beard getting in his way. "What Wiccan blood line is she from?"

Jessica faltered. "I… I don't know; there's a crescent moon and a star."

His old eyes widened in surprise. "Well now, she's pureblood as well."

"But it's against Wiccan law, and they really don't seem the type." Jessica said, huffing and sitting down next to her grandfather. "Did they do it for the power, too?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't believe so. Dwyer women are notorious for following their hearts instead of the rules, though. Banished from many Wiccan societies for it, actually."

"Oh? And what of her father's side. Which Sorcerer family is he from?"

The old man shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't know, dear. It's been a long time since I've been allowed entry into any Sorcerer run stores. Which includes libraries and the lineage halls."

Jessica sighed, getting to her feet again. "This isn't helping me. How am I supposed to manipulate her mind now?"

"There's one last thing I can suggest, my dear." He said, getting to his feet. He snapped his fingers and moments later, one of the maids came rushing into the room. He pointed to the floor beside him, Jessica watching with calculating eyes as the maid kneeled and her grandfather put his hand on the side of her face. "You can forcefully go in and take what you want. Erase her slate and fill in what you want." The maid screamed, her hands shooting up to try and pry his from her head. She whimpered and cried, screamed and thrashed as blood leaked from her nose, her ear. Jessica watched as murky pools of grey filled her eyes until nothing was left and the maid became quiet, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Teach me." She murmured.

He pulled his hand back, looking to his grand-daughter. "There's one fatal flaw, Jess. Once she's broken, you may not be able to fix her again, at least, not exactly how you want." Jessica continued to stare in wonder at the murky grey swirling around in the maid's eyes. "Do you understand what I'm saying? The trauma could inflict permanent damage. I'm telling you this because you claim to love her; this may induce insanity. She may go crazy if you don't do it right."

Jessica just smiled up at her grandfather. "She's going to have to be a little mad to love me."

BELLA

The forest outside the shack was eerily quiet; not a bird chirping, not a twig snapping, not even leaves on the trees rustling. It was unnaturally still, as if someone had hit the pause button on nature. Or perhaps it was because everything that could, that _would_ have, had been scared off by the near constant screaming.

Although, the last day had been relatively quiet. Bella had finally given up on trying to Shimmer out of there or use her affinity, and had taken to building up what mental walls and blocks she could. Jessica was strong, one of the more powerful Witches she and her sister had come across during the years. There was no doubt in Bella's head ha the Witch would break her, and soon. Very soon. But Bella wouldn't let her have it all, wouldn't let Jessica take her completely. And not without one hell of a fight; she was going to make the Witch earn what she got, because everything comes a at a price. Even for the sadistic psychotics in life.

She was putting what remained of her strength and power in locking away a small part of her mind. A tiny portion that could easily be hidden. Important thoughts, things she would never let Jessica take from her, because if she knew this girl, this Witch -and after having her use her mind as a personal playground, she was sure she did- then the Witch would take it all. Replace it all. All with lies.

The most important, what she would bury the deepest, were her family's faces. Tanya's ocean blue and moss green eyes, Kate's impish and deceivingly innocent smile, Alice and her ebony locks that were constantly styled in a way that reminded her of a pixie, Emmett's goofy grin, Jasper and the easy going, reassuring smirk he had sometimes, Edward's gravity defying bronze hair, Rosalie and her fierce looks, Carlisle and his compassionate eyes, and Esme's loving smile.

Her ties to them, she buried those next. She was a sister, a friend, a daughter, and a mate. If she ever managed to escape Jessica's clutches and remembered she would find them again. She swore, one day she would find them all.

"You don't look so goo today, hun." Jessica's nasally voice echoed throughout the quiet room. She crouched down in front of the wooden chair and looked into Bella's deep blue and chocolate brown eyes. There wasn't much left in them, and it made her giddy, The bags under her bloodshot eyes had gone from a purple colour to something so dark it looked almost black. Her ink black hair was stuck to her sweaty skin, the splashes of blue in it the only colour she had anymore. Her wrists were raw with blood from yanking and struggling in the chains so much, her finger tips much the same from clutching the wooden arms of the chair so tightly.

When she got no response nor any sign of acknowledgement, Jessica lifted Bella's face up by her chin. The young Witch's eyes focused on her briefly before glazing over again, her head lolling to the side. Jessica sighed, frowning slightly. "You know, I actually miss your struggling. At least then you payed attention to me. Spoke to me." She quirked the corner of her mouth up in a smirk. "Well, screamed at me."

She paused before shrugging and placed her hands on either side of the dazed girl's face, her brows furrowing in concentration. Bella blinked a few times, the slimy presence in her mind forcefully yanking her from her attempts at locking memories away. The brown and blue orbs grew darker, a menacing blackness pooling in them, growing and filling until there was no colour left; no brown, no blue, not even the whites.

_Bella jolted forward, looking around the shack with wide eyes. Nothing seemed out of place; the fire still dancing and cackling in the fire place, the Scrabble board hame open on the table in front of her, the plaid blanket around her shoulders. Everything was the way it was supposed to be._

_"What's up, hun?" Jessica asked, placing he letters on the board with a smile._

_The older girl frowned. "Nothing, I guess. I feel like I just had a dream."_

_"Probably just lost in your thoughts again." Jessica replied, resting her head on Bella's shoulder. "Isabella, my great thinker." She giggled._

_The corners of Bella's mouth slowly tugged up into a smile. "Ain't is not a word."_

_"…Uh, yeah it is." Jessica huffed._

_She just laughed, shaking her head. "If it isn't in the dictionary, then it isn't a word." _

_Jessica started flipping through the large book, grumbling to herself. "People use ain't all the time. And how do you know for sure it isn't in here?"_

_"Just because people use it, doesn't make it a word. Also," She smiled, taking the large book and flipping through it quickly to the page the word, had it been a real one, would have been and grinned triumphantly. "I know it isn't in here because I read the dictionary when I'm bored."_

_Jessica gave the girl a look, like she was out of her mind. "You… read the dictionary when you're board. Actually go through, page by page, reading it?"_

_"Well, yeah. I don't ever want to be in that awkward position of not understanding what someone is saying, just because I don't understand one word." She shook her head. "How embarrassing would that be?"_

_The brunette rolled her eyes, playfully shoving Bella's shoulder. "You're so weird, my love."_

_"I'm weird beca- ugh!" She cried out, her hands flying up to her hold the sides of her heads. "Oooohhhh-wwwww!" She whimpered, screwing her eyes shut and she winced. Her breathing became laboured, her mind and thoughts whirling and spinning out of control as she held her head tighter, feeling like it was splitting apart. "Help!" She gasped, trying to look up at Jessica, unable to focus her eyes. A dark crimson drop dripped from her nose, down her lip, and onto the coffee table in front of her. All the air in her lungs left in one whoosh as she collapsed forward, her letters scattering across the table and onto the floor, her cheek resting against the cool wood of the able. She stared at the reflection on the glass cup beside the board, unable to do anything else. Starring endlessly into onyx pools._

Jessica gasped, her eyes lighting up as an enormous smile stretched across her face. She looked at the black eyes staring up at the ceiling of the shack, the blood steadily dripping down pale lips and a chin, the relaxed and no long tense muscles of her love. "Finally," She whispered. She smiled sweetly, caressing the side of the broken girl's face. "It's better this way, Isabella. It won't hurt nearly as much. How can you miss what you can't remember?" She said softly. Jessica placed her hands back on Bella's face, watching her eyes flutter as she sifted through her thoughts. "You won't need any of this; not your childhood memories of Phoenix, not your parents, not the house in Forks, or the Cullen mansion. Those fools in school, or your Familiars. Not…" Her eyes widened. "They're… they're vampires?" She growled to herself, glaring at her hands. "And what's this? What are you hiding here? What did you lock away, Isabella?"

Only a strangled, mumbled, and incomprehensible noise fell from the girl's lips.

"Well then, I'll just have to hide the key from you then. If _I_ can't have access, than neither can _you_." She snarled.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

Jasper ran his hands through his hair nervously, tugging on the collar of his T shirt. Everyone's stress and anxiety was wearing at his nerves, clearly, seeing as he couldn't stop bouncing his knee up and down. _I've never felt more human than I do right now_, he thought to himself, watching the jean clad limb bounce. He understood, though, why everyone was so wound up, and therefore didn't make a fuss over it. Any other day, and he would be telling people to chill out, or go for a run, far from their attacking emotions. Alas, today there was no hope of anyone 'Chilling out' and he couldn't just up and run off.

Demetri and Felix of the Volturi were on their way to the Cullen mansion. In fact, they were expected any minute.

So everyone stood out in the front yard, tense and waiting, watching Alice like a hawk.

Jasper felt his chest tighten as he stared at his little sister. She had been, in essence, gone and missing just as long as Bella had. Refusing to stay put in the present with them until she had Bella back, constantly throwing herself into visions, searching the future for her mate. He missed her greatly. Missed her giggle, her dancing walk, her optimistic nature. And it made him hate her gift, just a little bit.

How useful he once thought it was. All the jealousy he could feel emanating from the others when she received a vision. To be able to foresee attacks and enemies, to know what someone was going to do before anyone else. How many times had he gift saved them? Saved her?

And now it stole her from them.

"They're here."

Jasper jumped in surprise, standing from the porch stairs. He ignored Emmett snickering at him, and focused his attention on the woods where Alice was staring. He could heard the fast paced footsteps before he could see the two figures, and instinctually reached his hand out of Kate's smaller, warmer one. He glanced down at her, into her green and brown eyes, forcing a reassuring smile. He couldn't tell who was more scared; him and his family, or the sisters. No one knew what would happen if the Volturi found out that they were Witches. How they would even react to the topic _of_ Witches. So they decided to keep that little secret on the down low.

He glanced back at Alice once more, sighing as he saw she was once again lost in her visions.

"Demetri, Felix, how good to see you again." Carlisle said, stepping forward as they approached. He held out his hand with a friendly smile, forcing it to stay put as Felix nearly crushed his hand. "Still quite the grip."

Emmett huffed, shuffling side to the side. The two giants stared at each other while Demetri shook hands with Carlisle, smiling dangerously. "And you, Carlisle Cullen." He said in his Italian accent. "Aro sends his apologies for not being able to come himself, but there is a situation in Europe."

"Talk of a Werewolf passing through the area." Felix boomed out, his eyes still sizing up Emmett.

Carlisle's eyes widened in disbelief, his eyebrows rising. "A Child of the Moon? I thought they were all extinct, hunted down by you and the others centuries ago."

The blonde Italian narrowed his ruby red eyes at Felix, hissing lowly before looking back to Carlisle. "Yes, well, it appears that we _may_ have missed one. Nothing has been confirmed yet." He ran a hand through his hair, his smile a little too friendly once more. "But, we have business to attend to, do we not? Aro said you required a favour from me; you wish to hunt someone down?"

"_Track_ someone down, actually." Edward corrected, tensing as a pair of red eyes glanced down at Tanya. "If it isn't too much trouble."

Demetri grinned, sniffing the air, his eyes growing darker. "Not at all."

"You're probably wondering about-" Carlisle began before he was cut off.

"Yes, I am. But I'm here to find someone for you, nothing more. All of… this," His eyes shifted between the two sisters. "Can be discussed with Aro and the others the next time you stop by to visit. Which, I'm sure, will be _very_ soon." His intent was clear, and they all knew that once this was over, they'd have yet another thing to worry about.

But the upside was that, at least, they had time to worry about each one at a time.

"You need to find Bella." Alice said all of the sudden, bringing attention to herself. The little pixie strode forward, nothing fluid and graceful about her movements; just blunt and direct. "You need to find her quickly; it's been almost three days now." She handed him a picture.

Demetri looked down at the photo, pursing his lips. His eyes raked over every detail, the absolute blue of one eye and deep brown of the other, almost hidden behind bold framed glasses. The quiet smile, and long dark locks framing her face, the blue matching her eye. She dressed peculiarly; formally with vintage accessories. Steampunk; a fashion he hadn't seen since the Victorian era. How out of place she looked, standing between the two blondes, even if they wore something similar, more Steampunk. She still didn't fit.

"She's your sister?" He asked, looking up to Kate and Tanya. They both nodded, their eyes puffy and red with tears. He felt like scoffing at the sight. It was too… human. Their tears smelled like weakness, like mortality. Their blood attested to that fact, and yet, standing there, he could feel them, like he felt everyone else; the key to his gift.

And they felt old. Very old, perhaps even older than him and the Cullen coven.

They felt ancient.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

"Wake up."

Bella stirred, her mind still whirling while she tried to open her eyes. It took more strength and effort than it should have, at least, she thought it did. But she managed to do so, and the first thing she saw was Jessica's dark grey eyes. So full of love, something that should have been comforting. But that wasn't the same kind as Alice looked at her with, this was different. Perhaps just as strong, but twisted. Dark. Menacing.

Scary love.

Not only love, did she see, but her reflection, and she stared in wonder at the endless onyx pits.

Had they always been like that?

They felt new, different, but…

She couldn't remember if that's how they always were.

And her hair… had it always been black? Wait… was there blue in there too?

Blue hair? How odd.

"Like troll hair." She mused, picturing the troll dolls.

_Oh_. Her voice… so rough and scratchy, breaking halfway through the sentence. It alerted her to the fact that she was very, _very_, thirsty.

Jessica tilted her hair to the side. "Troll hair?" She asked, utterly confused. "But I… I just got it done before all this. For you."

"I've also seen green and pink before. There's probably purple, orange, red, and others too." She replied, her brows furrowed as she tried to remember.

The brunette bit her lip, slowly shaking her head. "You're not making sense, my love. I don't understand. I did it right. I did it better than he did; not merely grey, but _black_. Stronger. Better. I don't understand!" She yelled, getting to her feet and whipping out her phone. She waited only moments, watching Bella look around the room blankly. "Why is she stupid? I've done everything right. Exactly as you did. _Better_ than you did. You've wrecked her."

_"Jessica, is that you? My dear, I did warn you."_

"You said crazy, not stupid. She isn't making any sense." She shot at him, glaring.

_"If the insane made sense, Jessica, then they wouldn't be insane, would they?"_

"I am _not_ stupid, and frankly, I'm offended that you would say so." Bella huffed, glaring up at Jessica. "I'll remember this the next time you want to drag me out to another party."

"Would you just…what?" Jessica paused, her eyes widening.

Bella sighed, rolling her eyes. "I said, I'll remember this the next - do I taste blood?" She asked, licking her lip and paling even more. She made a face and reached up to her nose, only to be stopped by the burning pain on her wrist. She looked down at the bloodied shackle around it, and the chain flowing down to the floor and through the small hole by the leg of the chair. "Why am I chained…?" She wondered aloud.

_"Please!" She begged, throwing her head back and screaming again. The chains rattled as she pulled and struggled, trying to get the pain to stop, to get up out of the chair that was causing so much agony._

_"If they would stop trying to summon you…"_

_She screamed again, her blood felt like it was boiling right there in her veins._

Confused and lost, Bella frantically looked around the room. She flinched away from Jessica who leaned down to eye level, bracing herself on the arm of the chair. "What just… who…"

"Do you know who I am, Isabella?" Jessica asked, her phone shut and back in her pocket. "Do you… how do you feel about me?"

"I don't know… who - who are you?" She asked, trying to recall a name, or ever seeing this girl before.

_Bella clutched the book in her hands, her small fingers going white from how tight she was holding it. She watched as her father held his hands up slowly, stepping towards the man standing by the book shop doors. "Listen, son, you don't need to do this."_

_Her heart picked up speed, her eyes darting over to the cashier who was reaching for the phone, and then back to her father._

_"You haven't done anything yet, we can all still walk away from this." He continued, slowly walking closer to the man._

_She looked back at the cashier, suddenly feeling a sinking in her stomach. Ice cold fear washing over her, and she wanted desperately to look away. Something inside was telling her that this wasn't good, that something bad was about to happen, and she should close her eyes. Close her eyes, plug her ears, hum her favourite song, and rock back and forth. _

_"We don't even need to involve the police, just put down the gun."_

_Tanya once told her that if she was ever scared or sad, that she should close her eyes and pretend she was somewhere else. Pretend that whatever was scaring and upsetting her, didn't exist and wasn't real. They had even practiced a few times before bed, because Tanya thought she was scared of sleeping in the dark._

_Bella didn't mind the dark so much. It was just as dark if you closed your eyes._

_But she didn't like sleeping alone. That was what scared her._

_She jumped, her wide eyes watching as the cashier dropped the phone, collapsing backwards onto the cold floor. Her eyes flickered up to her father, watching the explosion of red spray the wrack of potato chips he was standing next to. Her mother's cry was just as, if not louder, than the gunshot. She watched Renee rush forward towards her father, kneeling in the red pool beneath and next to him. _

_Bella felt stiff and numb, so cold and detached. The third gunshot made her jump again, flinching as she felt wet drops pelt her. She opened her eyes, unable to keep them closed no matter how hard she tried, staring at the crimson spots on her glasses._

_The bell above the book shop door rang as the man raced out of it._

Bella stared at her wrists, bloodied and raw. She looked up towards the eyes she could feel burning into her, seeing the tall man with the gun staring at her. His dark hair hidden beneath the baseball cap, the patchy, dirty beard growing on his face, and dark eyes watching her curiously. Her breath froze, trapped in her throat, her eyes growing wide as terror filled her. "You…" Her voice shook. But just as soon as the terror came, it was gone, instead filled with something stronger. Deeper. Raw. Unbridled. And cold.

"You…" She said again, firm this time, with a dangerous undertone. "You killed them. He was just trying to help and you shot him."

"Isabella, I don't know what you're-"

"My dad!" She screamed, her face red. "Did it mean so little to you that you've forgotten it so easily? I haven't. Every time I close my eyes, I see you." Jessica shook her head, utterly confused. "I see them. Dying. Because of you." Her face fell, shoulders sagging as her voice softened. "Because of me and my stupid birthday. So selfish of me, begging them to take me early to get the book. A book I've never read. A book that made me kill my parents."

"Isabella, I-"

"We both have blood to pay now." She growled, raising her hand up and palm out towards Jessica.

"Wait-"

The air rippled and Jessica flew back into the wall, the energy smashing into it with her, leaving long, ugly cracks. Bella cried out, gripping the arms of the chair and clenched her teeth. She felt the energy of the room rush through her body, stronger and more intense than the pain cause by the chair as she continued to gather layers and layers of energy. Jessica looked up with wide eyes, looking at the white sparks flashing around the chair, and Blinked out of the shack, just before Bella let the energy fly out away from her.

The windows smashed and shattered, glass sprinkling out in the grass around the shack. The outside walls were cracked and bulged outward, like a bomb had gone off inside, the door flying off its hinges and into the woods surrounding the shack.

Bella breathed in deeply, feeling her chest burn, and slowly opened her eyes again. The room was spinning, but managed to settle after a moment, and she found herself staring underneath the couch. Her cheek was resting against the wooden floor, one of her arms bent and beneath her in an awkward way that made her whimper. She rolled over, looking down at her arm, the shackle covered in fresh blood from her wrist again, and the chain disappearing into the hole in the floor. Her eyes automatically flickered over to her other wrist to see if it was bleeding again too, her eyebrows raising. One of the links in the chain was bent open.

Hesitantly, she lifted that hand, biting her lip as her wrist burned. She took another deep breath and grabbed the chain, holding tight, and gave two hard tugs before it came free.

She turned back over onto her stomach, getting to her knees and grabbed the other chain. Just as she was about to start pulling and yanking until it became free, something caught her eye. She looked up, blinking a few times and gasped, looking around the book store. Her eyes took in Charlie on the floor, his brown eyes staring, unseeing, up at the ceiling, and the deep, crimson puddle around him and her mother laying across him, unmoving. Bella shook her head. "No… Mommy…dad…"

Something caught the light on the other side of the two, small and silver, nearly engulfed in the puddle of blood.

A key.

_"He's getting away!"_

Bella looked up at the woman crouched down by the other group of customers, her book held tightly in her hand. She was glaring at Bella, with an accusatory look.

_"Don't just sit there, you stupid little girl. Get him. Kill him. Make him pay."_

She blinked, opening her mouth and then closing it again. She glanced back at the key and then to her shackle. Grab the key? But… that meant leaning over… over them… so close… touching them… all the blood.

_"He's getting AWAY!"_

Tears streamed down Bella's cheeks as she reached as far as she could, trying to focus on the key as she started leaning closer and closer to the… bodies. She whimpered, her cheek brushing her mother's back, wet with blood, her arm pressed tight against her father's side as she desperately reached for the key. Her fingertips brushed against the metal of it, her other wrist burning and stinging with pain, bleeding badly. She cried out, pressing her body flush against her parents, feeling the moisture soak into her clothes and on the side of her face.

She flung herself back down onto the floor next to them, panting and heaving with sobs, her fist closing around the key.

_"Go get him. Now."_

She grit her teeth, her black eyes flying open as she made quick work of the shackle. She slowly got to her feet, the book store flickering, images of the shack appearing here and there.

The bell above the door rung as she ran out, chasing after the man who killed her parents.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

…

**Yes, well.**

**Should I make up some excuse here? Would it placate you? Is it worth the effort? No matter what I say, the fact remains that I haven't updated in a while. Excuses aren't going to change that.**

**So I suppose all I can do is apologize. :)**

**Don't really like this chapter much. Had to be done, and this is what I got from it. It's hard trying to right all… insane like. I had to delete the first time I tried this chapter, well, Bella's section. She didn't really end up seeming/sounding insane, but, well, intellectually challenged. Still might. Or just confusing. I really don't like the end of this chapter, I don't think I portrayed anything the right way. **

**Is it clear that she can't string her thought together to make sense? That she can't separate reality from memories or things her mind is creating?**

**I don't know, this feels like crap to me. I'm stressed and busy and just… blah lately, though, so I don't plan on trying to fix it up or anything. I'll try harder on the next chapter though.**

**Review if you want.**

**-Paige.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; If me, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing writing about it here when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '…' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all of my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

BELLA

"So?" Kate asked anxiously, sitting on the corner of the bed. The big, furry, flub ball otherwise known as Louis, was curled up on her lap. Like any other Familiar, he wasn't just the average pet, and Bella's absence was taking its toll on both him and Kiki. Said bird was hardly ever seen lately, and Louis had taken to hiding in Bella's room all hours of the day, solemnly leaving her bed.

Kate nervously played with his paws, taking comfort in the soft, warm little pads. She glanced up at the pale stranger, watching as a lock of his blonde hair fell into his face, his ruby red eyes flickering back and forth at impossible speeds as he read through her sister's journal. Demetri looked up into her green and brown eyes, unable to stop himself from shifting uncomfortably. Ever since he had felt just how old the sisters were, it had put him on edge. Anything _that_ old had to be strong. Powerful. Just as much as the Volturi, to have lasted and withstood all that time, all that… life. And it worried him. _Others_ as powerful as the Volturi? And mated to the Cullen coven, no less? Just the Cullens alone worried Caius.

He was going to be livid.

"I've never done it this way before. It is more difficult without an established connection; having to make one myself through thoughts on paper is… tasking." He replied in his Italian accent. Kate frowned, rubbing her forehead with a sigh. "However, I believe I am almost finished."

Kate jumped, staring wide eyed at the pixie suddenly standing in the doorway. She was wearing… normal clothes and that worried Kate. Hiking boots, dark jeans, and a black sweater with the hood up. She looked like she was ready to commit a crime, like rob a bank or something. And normally her beaming smile would dispel any thoughts of her being capable of such things, but this time there was no smile. There was dark eyes, with dark bags under them. Her bangs hanging low in her face, and her mouth set in a grim line. Alice glanced from Demetri to Kate, whose heartbeat had picked up, while she hoisted a bag over her shoulders. "Finish reading the page and you'll be ready." She followed Kate's line of sight to the bag, pursing her lips. "First aid and water; anything Bella may need, or Carlisle."

"Always thinking ahead." Demetri complimented, flashing a smile.

Alice stared at him with hard eyes. "That's what I do."

Both Demetri and Kate looked at each other, neither accustomed to the attitude. He cleared his throat and set down the journal, sliding his pale hands into his pockets. "Yes, well, I am ready."

Kate silently followed the two vampires down the stairs to the living room where everyone was waiting. Tanya jolted to her feet, her frantic eyes wide and waiting. "So? Where is she?"

The room became silent, everyone looking to the Volturi members. Demetri closed his eyes, his brows furrowing. "What…? I… I cannot see her." He said, his voice full of surprise and frustration.

The two sister looked at each other, subtly nodding. Bella was still blocking; probably not them but the Witch, and it was affecting everyone else.

"I can see woods and trees." Demetri said.

"More," Edward shot in, focusing on him. "Look at the area around them and keep widening the search." His face scrunched up in concentration as Demetri bit his lip. "There! I knew those woods were familiar, this is just outside London."

Again, Kate and Tanya exchanged glances; remembering them tracking down the Witch to London the night of the Halloween dance.

"We've been there before?" Emmett asked, too upset to be amused.

"Not quite; there's no real game in that area of the woods. Birds and small critters. We didn't go there much." Edward replied.

Esme looked over to Alice. "Is running or taking a plane faster?"

Her golden eyes lost focus as Alice stilled, blinking again after a few moments. "Plane, if we take Tanya and Kate. We'll be faster running without them, though."

"We're going." Tanya said. She clenched her jaw, watching as the Cullens all exchanged looks. "I won't sit idly by while my sister is in danger. It's _my_ job to protect her. To help her. To save her. _I_ was the one who couldn't stop this Wi-"

"Tanya, there just isn't time." Edward cut in quickly. He scanned the thoughts of both Demetri and Felix, thankful they didn't catch his mate's little slip up. "We'll be faster and get to her quicker if you two stay here. And it will be safer; who knows what this… girl is capable of. I mean, out of you three, I've always understood that _Bella_ was… more advanced in _taking care of herself_," He hoped they were following along and knew he meant Witchcraft. "And this girl actually took _her_. We can't be distracted worrying about you while we try to save her."

Tanya ran her hands through her hair, her eyes tearing up again. She wasn't sure whether to be offended at that last part, or if she liked that he cared that much and was worried about her. But the fact still remained that her sister was out there, alone and in danger. "No, what if something happens? I need to _be_ there for her!" Everyone jumped as flames exploded to life in the fireplace. Felix and Demetri looked at one another, their eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion.

"I won't let anything happen to her." Alice said. She looked Tanya in the eye, her voice leaving no room for questions. "Now, you will let this go, stay here, and be quiet so we can leave. I won't waste valuable minutes _arguing_ while my Bella could be hurt ."

"Go," Kate said, grabbing Tanya's arm and silencing her sister. They all looked at her. "Now!"

The Cullens and the Volturi spent little more than seconds getting ready before they were headed out the door and blurring across the lawn into the woods behind the house. Edward and Jasper paused only briefly to say their goodbyes to the sisters before joining the others, leaving Kate and Tanya standing on the porch. Tanya whirled around, fire -quite literally- in her eyes. "How could you let them leave without us?" She snarled. "That's our _sister_ out there. Little Bella."

Kate glanced down at Tanya's runners, sweats, and coat, then to her own boots, jeans and coat. "Running isn't fast enough for _me_ and I had to get rid of those Volturi! You didn't actually think I would just sit around waiting for them to help Bella, did you?"

The blondes stared at each other for a moment until Tanya's eyebrows rose a she caught on. "Oh!"

And with that, they Shimmered, leaving the porch and house empty.

**XXxxXXxxXX**

The only thing that disturbed the utter silence in the woods was the near constant dripping sound. Pitch black orbs looked down to the source, Bella idly watching as they crimson liquid of her blood ran down from her wrists to her fingertips, dripping down onto the fallen leaves. She wasn't sure if it made her feel ill or not.

The leaves crunched as she travelled further and further into the woods, following the flashes of colour and shadows she would see out of the corners of her eyes.

Bella knew something was wrong. Or rather, she knew she wasn't right. The gaps in her memory prevented her from making sense of anything, and the scenes she was constantly just…plunged into were disorienting. But beyond all that, she could…feel something. Like the Boogy monster lurking in shadows, she could feel a slimy presence within those gaps, slowly spreading and growing.

Gasping, Bella spun around, one hand raised and ready for action. Her shoulders dropped as she was met with more woods. Something was different though, the ground was…trembling. Actually, looking around, she realized everything was trembling; shaking enough to make her stumble. She couldn't contemplate it long though; too overwhelmed by the onslaught of energy filling her. As if pulled by an invisible string, her left hand raised up, palm out. She could feel a good portion of that energy flowing through her, gathering around her hand. The air around it rippled, little white sparks flashing.

Just as fast as it had come, it was gone again and Bella was left standing there bewildered.

What _was_ that?

Unable to try and process what had just happened, she turned around, intent on getting out of the labyrinth of trees. However, in her haste she failed to notice the uprooted plant life, having her foot caught, and fell forwards to the forest floor. With a grunt, she turned over onto her back, blinking furiously. With each blink, she saw something different, like a slide show in her mind. The crisp white ceiling of the book store, the blue sky and tree tops, the shack roof. All until it finally settled on a grey, cloudy, raining sky.

_Bella pushed her glasses further up on her face, staring up at the grey sky. The woman's voice giving the eulogy faded into the background noise. Her blue and brown eyes travelled from the sky, up to the umbrella over her head. She listened to each individual rain drop pelt the material, watching the water drip off the edges. Her eyes flickered over to her right, where Tanya stood next to her with tears in her eyes, the eldest sister's hands firmly clutching the umbrella above them and Bella's hand, almost tight enough to make the smaller girl wince. On her other side was her other sister, Kate, with her arms wrapped around Bella in a tight hug, her face buried in the younger girl's neck while she cried and cried and cried._

_They had both been doing that since Mr. and Mrs. Denali told them about the accident, and hadn't stopped since, and Bella wondered, not for the first time, if something was wrong with her because she hadn't. _

_The youngest sister had tears, many, many, tears. She felt like she was filled to the brim, about to explode and drown the world with them. But none had fallen. None __**would**__ fall. They were stuck. Stubborn. Painful. All she wanted to do was let go, let those tears fall, and cry._

_She wanted to cry when the police came rushing in through the door of the book store._

_She wanted to cry when the paramedics checked her over, asking if she was hurt._

_She wanted to cry when the doctors wheeled her parents away on those hospital beds, down the lonely, empty hall._

_She wanted to cry when Mrs. Denali and the others found her in the waiting room._

_She wanted to cry when Mrs. Denali helped clean the blood off of her glasses and helped her in the shower to wash all the red drops from her face and hair, helped her throw out those stained clothes._

_And she wanted to cry when they lowered her parents into the ground, her arms automatically reaching out for Kate as her sister's knees collapsed and she fell to the ground sobbing._

_But if she cried, then she was admitting that her parents were gone. If she let those tears go, then she let her parents go._

_She wasn't ready to do that; she wouldn't ever be ready to do that._

A pathetic, weak groan/cry escaped from her lips as she rolled over, pushing herself back up to her feet. "What have you done to me?" She yelled out, angry and livid. She just… she had to find Jessica and get her to… to fix this? To fix it quickly before this little window of clarity was gone. Before she was washed back into the sea of confusion, unable to tell what's real and what's not, to piece together her thoughts properly.

What did Jessica _do_? How was it possible to utterly destroy a mind like that? "You're sick!" She screamed out, her throat burning. "Dark magic."

Jessica Blinked, placing her hand on Bella's shoulder comfortingly. "Isabella, my love, let me explain everything. I had-"

Spinning around, Bella grabbed Jessica and threw her against the nearest tree, pinning her with a dark gaze. She spoke slowly, dangerously. "What did you do to me?"

The Witch searched those blue and brown eyes, watching as they slowly started to fill with ink black pools. "I… you… you're mine, Isabella. I had to. This was the only way for you to see we're meant to be together."

Bella shook off the hazy fog settling over her mind again, trying desperately to hold onto her clarity. "You were in my head, you did something… you made… I'm not _me_ and I can remember…things that are important…" Tears fell down her cheeks, leaving clean streaks through the dirt and blood. "Why did you pull out my thoughts?"

Jessica flinched as the girl in front of her screamed those words.

"Where did you put them? Please, I can't _not_ remember." An image of bright, golden eyes entered her mind, dark bangs falling into them. "I need to know who that is."

"Who?" Jessica asked as the girl's grip on her slackened. "Me? I'm… I'm Jessica, remember?"

Bella glared at the dull brown and blue orbs before her, shaking her head. "You don't have the pretty eyes; she's not you."

Holding her stinging cheek in her hand and stumbling back into another tree, Bella looked up in time to see Jessica with her hand still raised, glaring and Blinked. She rubbed her cheek, pushing off of the tree and clumsily made her way through the trees. She didn't know where she was going, or even why, but she knew that she needed to move. She had to keep going… somewhere. To run away… or…no, maybe to… to find something? Someone? Wait; where was she?

She looked up to the sky, the sun burning her eyes, and quickly looked back down, tripping over a fallen log. She huffed out a small cry, her wrist throbbing because of the shackle and broken chain hanging from it. She felt like she should get up and keep going, but the small puddle and cool grass she fell in was just so soothing.

_Mrs. Denali sighed, a sad smile on her face as she finished washing the dishes. She could hear Irina, Tanya, and Kate upstairs playing around with their dolls. Her husband was in the living room, cranking the TV up to watch his show._

_It had been two months since… since the accident with the Swans, and she felt that things were progressing… nicely. Tanya and Kate had stopped crying and she had actually seen them smiling and laughing a couple times the passed few days. Irina was so excited to share a room with Kate and have both Bella and Tanya across the hall, able to play and hang out whenever they liked. Mr. Denali had gotten that raise he was waiting for -she had a sneaking suspicion it was because of his boss's sympathy when he found out they took in the Swan sisters- and she got to stay home with the kids. _

_Everything was great._

_Except for Bella._

_She looked back up out the window above the sink, taking in the scene of the back yard._

_The youngest sister pushed her glasses back up on her face, her legs dangling just above the ground from the tire swing. She was sopping wet, the rain soaking through her coat, running down her face. _

_Mrs. Denali was hesitant to call Bella back in. The girl would listen, no doubt about it; she was a good girl and always did what she was told, but Mrs. Denali didn't want to see that blank, empty face. It broke her heart every time, and she felt bad telling her what to do. She wanted Bella to do whatever the girl wanted, to try and cheer her up that way, but all Bella ever did was sit on that tire swing, alone. _

_And she didn't talk anymore, not unless Tanya or Kate were talking to her. She'd nod, shake her head, shrug her shoulders, maybe murmur something, but Bella was even more reserved than she used to be. _

_Mrs. Denali just didn't know what to do._

Bella blinked a few times, the image of the Denali house fading away back into trees. She sighed, watching it fade, wondering whose house it was, who lived in there. Why would anyone live in the woods? Why would they risk the trees swallowing their house like what had just happened?

"We'll split up; I'll go this way, you go down that path there. Just get Bella out of here if you find her, Shimmer back home, but if you find that damn Witch, call me. She's dead."

"Be careful, Tanya. She could have more warlocks with her."

The girl tensed, lifting up her head to look through the trees.

She sat up, rubbing her eyes, trying to settle everything in front of her from morphing and changing, shifting back and forth from woods to a book store, and back to woods again. She hesitantly got to her feet, her heart picking up speed, pounding painfully in her chest.

Bella looked around herself, taking in the shelves of books, the tiled floor, the group of people at the front of the store. She slowly started walking towards the people, trying to stay quiet, trying not to be noticed by the man in the door with the gun and baseball cap. She clenched her fists tightly, blinking away tears.

The closer she got to the front of the store, the more she wanted to stop, but her feet just kept going. She was powerless, drawn forward, her fists shaking.

She flinched at the first gunshot, watching the cashier fall, the phone smashing on the ground.

A gasp sounded. "B… _Bella_?"

Her jaw clenched at the second gunshot, Charlie crumbling to the floor.

"Bella, what… what happened? What did she do to you?"

Tears fell at the last, echoing shot, and she watched her mother collapse on her father.

"Oh god, Bella, are you okay? You're hurt and your eyes! We have to get you out of here, you need medical help, Bella. Take my hand, quick."

Slowly, her blood stained, raw wrist, shackled hand rose up in front of her. She felt white hot energy surge through her, glaring fiercely at the man beneath the cap.

"Bella? What's wrong? Why are you-"

The sparking, flashing energy shot out from Bella's hand and slammed into Tanya. She cried out, feeling her ribs crack, and was launched backwards into a tree. She gassed, a sharp pain stabbing through her back, and she collapsed forwards to the ground. She groaned, blinking away the dizziness and tears, reaching behind her to her back. She pulled her hand back, looking down at the warm liquid covering her hand, letting out a shaky breath.

"B-Bella?" She croaked, hesitantly looking up at her younger sister.

The black, endless orbs glared back down at her and she shrunk away. "How do you know my name?"

She shook her head, confused. "Bella, please, it's me. It's Tanya."

Bella's eyes widened, reeling back. "How do you know my sister's name? How do you know us? Who are you! Have you been stalking us? This was - it was planned, wasn't it? It wasn't an accident, it was planned murder. You're sick!" She screamed.

Tanya paled, feeling the ground and trees around them trembling, watching with terrified awe as her sister absorbed energy, nearly glowing with it. "Bella, please, I'm hurt." She cried.

She watched her ragged, torn sister blink a few times, her face smoothing out and then twisting in confusion. Bella slowly lowered her hand, taking in the strawberry blonde hair, the blue and green eyes full of pain. "T-Tanya?" She asked, her voice scratchy and cracking. "Tanya!" She gasped, jerking forward and falling down to the ground beside her sister. "You're bleeding! Oh my god, what happened? Are you okay?"

"What's going on, Bella?" Tanya asked, blinking the black spots away. She was losing a lot of blood, and could feel herself fading.

**Kate… help me…**

Bella's head snapped up. She glared at the people pouring out into the parking lot with them, the ambulances' lights flashing. Why were the paramedics ignoring them? "Help! Help us! Please, my sister's been hurt!" She clenched her jaw. "Look at us! Help us! My sister's been shot - _help her, now!_ Stop _ignoring_ us!"

The eldest sister looked over into the trees her sister was shouting at. "Bella…" She looked back up at her sister, her brows furrowed. "Bella, there's no one there. We're alone."

Dark eyes flickered down to the bleeding girl in her arms. Bella gasped, pushing herself away from the girl and back against a tree. "Who… who are you?"

"What did she do to you, Bella?"

**XXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXX**

**Been a while since I've updated this fic, eh?**

**It's not as long as the last chapter, but hopefully better. Writing insanity is rather difficult, actually. Hopefully you all could follow along, though if you didn't, I guess that's… that's kind of the point, right? I mean, people aren't really SUPPOSED to follow along with insanity, otherwise it wouldn't really BE insanity, right?**

**Meh. **

**Review though, let me know… stuff. Scared for Tanya? Or Kate, whose out there…alone with a crazy kidnapping Witch. Although, Bella's crazy too. Who should be more scared? Oy. **

**-Paige**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; if I, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing here writing about it when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '...' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

KATE

**Kate… Help me…**

Kate's black-streaked blonde hair whipped around as she turned, her green and brown eyes searching the enormous trees surrounding her. Her sister's voice was slow, quiet, weak, and it frightened her. She hadn't ever heard it like that before. Tanya was always the strong one, emotionally, mentally, physically, you name it. She was the epitome of strength throughout their lives, her rock and Bella's anchor. Even when times were so tough, and it didn't look like there was any way out, she would put on a brave face and soldier through it for them.

To hear her so… vulnerable was like a slap in the face for Kate, and it shook her.

With fragile courage, Kate picked a direction and started running, intent on getting to her sister. Obviously something happened, something…bad? If Tanya needed help then yes, it was definitely something bad. Was it the Witch? Had she found Tanya? Did they fight, and was Tanya hurt? Were they still fighting, and was Tanya fending her off, keeping her busy, while she waited for backup?

Kate picked up the pace, frantically searching the woods around her for either her sister or the Witch.

_**Where are you?**_

She hopped a fallen tree, landing in a puddle on the other side and stopped to catch her breath. Her mind raced without the immediate reply from her sister, and she ran her hands through her hair, looking this way and that way, narrowing her eyes. "Tanya," she called out. "Bella? Can you hear me?"

A twig snapped, and she whirled around with hopeful eyes, only to be met by a pair of dull brown and blue ones. The hope in her chest shattered, and she could almost physically _feel_ it, forcing the air painfully out of her lungs. A split second later, rage started filling up that now vacant space, and she clenched her fists tightly, her voice low and dangerous. "You…"

Jessica smirked and then turned, dashing away into the trees behind her.

"Where's my sister," Kate snarled at her, racing off after her.

ALICE

"There's a city up ahead. We'll have to slow down or take a cab through it," Felix said, already slowing his pace along with Demetri. The two Volturi looked behind them, fifty yards away, at the Cullens, who quickly caught up.

It was times like this that made Felix wonder why any vampire would drink _animal_ blood rather than human blood. Why would anyone choose to be less? Weaker, slower, more vulnerable?

His eyes traveled over the hulking form of the largest Cullen.

Especially that one. As it was, Felix wasn't sure he could take him, but if this vampire switched to human blood, the absolute _power_ he could have would make him nearly unstoppable. Did he know that? Were the Cullens aware of the drawbacks to their diet? Or had the doctor lied to them? Would they be so high and mighty, would they choose the 'moral high ground' if they knew what it meant to truly be a vampire? Had any of them ever _tasted_ human blood?

"We'll cut through alleys, or go around," Alice said as she approached, her dark eyes losing focus.

Demetri watched with fascination as her blank eyes flickered back and forth, scanning the future. He found her gift positively _wondrous_ and was quickly becoming enamoured with the girl. Aro most certainly had impeccable taste if he wanted this one to join their guard. He couldn't even imagine how much an oracle could strengthen them.

The others were gathering around each other, coming up with plans to get through the city quickly and efficiently without being seen. Demetri blurred behind Alice, her back nearly touching his chest as he leaned down to her ear. A malicious grin tugged at his lips, his smooth voice slithering in her ear. "I can't imagine what it must be like, losing your mate like this." Her shoulders stiffened, but she refused to be pulled from her visions. "Such dread, anxiety, such rage… How easily it could have been prevented."

Felix's eyes met Demetri's, matching grins on their faces, as Felix spoke louder, gaining the Cullens' attention and keeping it from the blonde's stealthy efforts of swaying Alice.

The blonde's crimson gaze lowered back to the pixie in front of him, her pale, slender neck muscles straining as she clenched her jaw. "Look what your diet has brought you, what your coven has given you—devastation. You could have been stronger, you could have tried to protect her, as a strong coven _would_ have. _We_ would have." A look of distaste passed over his face as he gazed at the other Cullens. "A powerful oracle such as yourself does not belong amongst such weakness. You belong with the Volturi, treated like royalty, you _and_ your mate. Crushing your enemies, like the people who took your Bella."

Alice's breath hitched in her throat, pain grasping at her chest.

"_We_ will save her, and then _we_ can protect her, Alice." His tone grew stronger, a demand lacing his voice. "Join us, Alice, join Aro, and you won't ever have to worry about her again."

Rosalie's eyes snapped over to the foul words spilling from his mouth. She blurred over and pulled her sister into her arms and away from Demetri. "What do you think you're doing? She is _not_ joining you. Not now, not ever. If you ever try to take advantage of my little sister while she's vulnerable like this again, I'm going to rip your spine out through your nose. Got it?" she hissed, her eyes darkening dangerously.

Demetri's crimson eyes flashed, his grin growing bigger, before he nodded and bowed his head. "Of course," he murmured, walking over to Felix. The two shared a look, the smiles on their faces twisting Jasper's gut.

Blinking rapidly, Alice looked up and around. "A street has been shut down, a flooding of some sort. Wait for my signal, and then follow me as fast as you can."

The others tensed, getting ready for this 'signal,' an uneasy feeling washing over them as they glanced at the Volturi a final time.

TANYA

She was surprised that she wasn't more afraid.

Here she was, propped up against a large tree in the middle of a forest…somewhere around London, bleeding quite profusely, with her sister cowering across the little clearing, mumbling, rambling, and looking at her like she was a complete stranger.

If there was any time in life to be afraid, _this_ was it.

And yet she just felt tired. Cold and tired.

With great effort, Tanya shook the fatigue from her and cleared her throat. "Bella," she called gently. The ragged girl's face whipped up, those black eyes staring at her. She grimaced, trying to focus on her sister's face. "What…what happened, Bella? What did she do to you?"

"Who?"

Tanya clenched her jaw, shifting around painfully and waved the skittish girl over to her. "Come here," she said. "Please, I won't hurt you. I promise."

Slowly, the dark haired girl stood up to her full height, straightening out. The energy around her rippled with the action. "Nothing but words to be put into an action, a pinky promise, bound by innocence." Her voice cracked and was raspy, breaking halfway through those eerie words, but it still held the slow, quiet certainty it always had. There wasn't a single time Tanya could remember where Bella took back her words, she always chose them carefully and _always_ meant what she said.

"I don't understand…" She trailed off as her sister crouched down a foot away from herself, holding out a bloodied, battered hand. Tanya's brows furrowed before she hesitantly reached out, curling her pinky finger around her sister's. "Okay. Now can you tell me what she did?"

"Who?" The query was repeated again, and Tanya held back from snapping at her.

Instead she took a deep breath. "The Witch, Bella. The one who kidnapped you. Do you remember her?" She pointed to the shackle on her sister's other wrist, the skin a raw angry red from struggling so much, with blood staining the metal.

Maybe it was better if Bella couldn't remember? Just looking at the girl, Tanya already knew it was…horrific to say the least. She looked like she had been tossed through the grinder, and it was a miracle really, that she could still stand there, staring at Tanya like that. It would explain all the trembling, the ripples of energy, Bella almost _glowing_ at times; she must have been constantly absorbing energy.

"The girl who you were with before me."

Bella's eyelashes fluttered, her skull throbbing in pain as she tried to push through the hazy fog. Images flashed behind her eyelids, and she gasped, her hands coming up to hold her head. "No! No, no, no, no, no. No." She blinked up at the blonde, whimpering quietly. "It hurts," she whispered.

Tears spilled over from Tanya's eyes, down her cheeks as she watched her sister drowning in pain. "I'm sorry, Bella." She reached out, shaking her head when the girl flinched back away from her hands. "I'm so sorry. I should have protected you."

Bella watched those tears fall and fall, leaving streaks on that pale skin. Her chest tightened painfully and she knew somehow, for some reason, she was the cause of this girl's pain., of this girl's tears. Chewing on her bottom lip, she huffed and tossed herself against the tree next to the blonde. She shifted until their legs were touching, ignoring the damp puddle of red that was staining the forest floor and tree behind them, taking the crying girl's hand in her own.

Tanya would have jumped in surprise if she could, but she was numb below her waist. She blinked the tears from her eyes, sniffling, and looked at her sister. "What—"

"Don't cry," Bella cut her off. "I will find this Bella and protect her for you." She missed the frustrated and helpless look she received, closing her eyes instead. "You'll see, Crying Girl, I'll make this better."

Tanya wished Kate would answer her already. That she would come rushing through the trees soon to help them both, because she was getting more and more tired as the seconds ticked by. Her head lolled to the side, resting on Bella's shoulder, and she took another deep breath. Her lungs were starting to burn. "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for her."

She cracked a smile. "With your eyes closed?"

"If you have any better ideas, I'm all ears." Bella paused, tilting her head to the side. "And eyes, and mouths, and noses. An entire face that is my own, but she has many. Too many. She hides behind them all. She is a lie."

Tanya struggled to question her sister, to ask what she meant, if she was talking about the Witch, what else she knew. To see if it was actually her sister again.

But it was too much of a challenge to even open her eyes.

She prayed Kate would get there soon.

KATE

"Chicken," Kate hollered. Her voice echoed back at her through the trees, over and over until it faded into nothing and she was left with silence yet again.

How long had she been chasing that damn witch? Minutes? Hours? It was darker now, the sunlight hiding behind trees, but still light enough for her to see. Bracing her hands on her knees, she leaned over, panting, and tried to catch her breath again. Kate felt like she was being led on a wild goose chase, and the sinking feeling in her gut told her this goose chase was to get her farther and farther _away_ from her sisters.

She _had_ tried turning around, about ten minutes ago, but she had absolutely no idea where she was anymore. She wasn't sure if she was going forwards or backwards, or if she was even going in a circle. Tanya's lack of answer was only adding to her growing frustration and hysteria.

Kate couldn't lose Tanya too. Not another sister. Not _another_ person.

She said that after Renee, after Charlie. After Mr. and Mrs. Denali, and Irina, she _swore_ she wouldn't let it happen again. She was so _sick_ of losing people.

And now she was on the verge of losing _two_ more.

"No." Kate shook her head, setting her shoulders and glaring through the trees. "I said I won't and I _won't_. You can't have them! You hear me? They're _mine__,_ and you can't have them!" With a new burning determination, she chose a new path and set down it, taking her first step—

Kate gasped, barely having enough time for her eyes to widen before she flew backwards half a dozen yards and landed on the ground in a heap.

Her head was spinning as she fumbled around, struggling to get her feet underneath her and pushed herself up, blearily looking around.

What _was_ that?

"If you find the blonde, you can keep her. I'm not interested in anyone but my lovely Isabella."

Kate's head snapped up, her eyes frantically searching for the source of the voice. "Where are you?"

Again, she was airborne and flying into the closest tree, like an invisible hand plucked her right off the ground and tossed her aside.

She muffled her cry, grabbing her throbbing shoulder, and stared up at the darkening sky above her. _That hurt._ She took a deep breath through her nose and gingerly sat up, getting to her knees. "Show your face, coward. Let's see how strong you are head to head, no more of this sneaking around, these cheap shots."

The forest was still and silent, the breeze rustling through the leaves of the trees.

Kate stood to her feet again, her hand still gripping her burning shoulder. She stepped away from the tree, turning around and around to find the witch.

Nothing.

"Come on," she taunted, raising her voice as she searched the trees. "If you want her, you're going to have to _fight_ for her. I won't let her go."

She didn't have to wait a heartbeat before she was pinned to one of the trees. Those dull brown and blue eyes glared up at her fiercely, an ugly snarl on the witch's lips. "I will _take_ her then. You can't stop me. No one can."

Jessica half yelped, half gasped as she flung herself away from the blonde. She stared down at her stinging hands with wide eyes, willing the pain away. Slowly her eyes traveled back up to Isabella's sister, who was standing tall above her, blue bolts of electricity dancing along her body, more focused at her hands.

"Wanna bet?"

ALICE

The vampires all skidded to a stop before the destroyed cabin.

Their minds whirled as they tried to comprehend what could have happened inside to cause such a state of the small building. Glass was spread through the grass beneath window spaces, the pieces of the door amongst their feet and lodged into a few nearby trees. Cracks were spaced throughout the bulging walls of the cabin, some spider-webbing away, others just tears in the wood.

If Alice didn't know any better, she'd swear a bomb had gone off inside.

The breeze blew against them, carrying a sweet, seductive scent with it. Carlisle's nostrils flared as the others shifted uncomfortably around him. "Blood."

"There are no heartbeats," Esme murmured quietly. She waited for someone to tell her she was hearing wrong, that there was one healthy, strong heartbeat inside, that the owner of the heartbeat was unharmed and waiting patiently for them to take her home.

Esme felt her heart breaking as the seconds ticked by and everyone remained silent.

"Bella's a fighter," Emmett insisted, startling his mate who jumped at the sudden booming noise. "She's still out here somewhere."

Alice cleared her throat, shaking the dark thoughts from her mind, and clung to Emmett's words like a life line. "Yes, you're right. She's okay. She is." The pixie turned to look at everyone. "She couldn't have gotten far." _Unless she Shimmered… What if_—_what if she's back home already?_ Alice had to get rid of the Volturi brothers so she could call Tanya and ask. Were they just wasting even _more_ time here? "Edward, you take Demetri and head north, Felix, you and Emmett can go south, Rose and Esme, you can search west, Carlisle and Jasper will search east."

"Where are you going to search?" Jasper asked, concerned.

Her golden eyes flickered back over to the cabin that was barely standing. "I'm going to look around here first and then catch up."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She smiled weakly. "I am."

"Alright."

The others slowly trickled off in their designated directions, a few of them sparing glances back at Alice before they disappeared into the trees.

She sighed deeply, her shoulders slumping as she fought to not collapse into herself. She hesitantly approached the cabin, stepping in through where the door once was. The floorboards creaked under her feet as she walked across the floor, taking in all the furniture pushed up against the walls. "Tossed" might have been a better word, she decided, as she took in the shattered glass that used to be vases, lamps, and other things.

Her eyes locked onto the chain and shackle lying on the floor in front of the fire place, her eyes darkening at the crimson stains on the metal. She crouched down in front of it, following the chain all the way to the hole in the floorboard, a matching one not two feet away. There were four light track marks going forwards and backwards mostly, though a few side to side…right where chair legs would sit.

Someone was chained to a chair, putting up a violent struggle.

_Bella_ had been…

Alice gasped, a pale hand shooting up to cover her mouth as she shook her head. Her other hand slowly reached down, running her pale fingers over the grooves in the floor, her eyes filling with tears that would never fall. Her mate had been in such _pain_ and she was sitting around the manor _waiting_ for something to happen.

She looked away to the chain farthest from her, noticing the lack of a shackle and how much shorter this one seemed. The last link on it was broken. A deep red hand print was on the wooden floor next to it, small spots and drops scattered around the area.

_Bella's bleeding,_ her mind raced.

Her hands were blurs until both chains were wrapped around them, and with a snarl she straightened up and pulled, ripping the chains up, tearing through the floor. She hurled them back down, viscously ripping her phone out of her pocket, nearly crushing it in her haste to call one of the sisters.

She paced the cabin, growling and snarling to herself as it continued to ring and ring and ring.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up…"

Tanya had been _desperate_ to go with them, so worried about her sister. Shouldn't she be waiting by her phone with bated breath? Shouldn't she have jumped at the sound of her phone and rushed to answer?

Why was she letting it ring!

_"Hello?"_

Alice froze, the phone almost falling from her hand. It was as if someone had dumped a buck of cold water on her and it took her a minute to function again.

"B-Bella?"

_"I'll protect her."_

The pixie slowly shook her head, her brows creasing in confusion. "What? Bella, is that you? Where are you? I was so worried and scared! I tried to reach you, but you were gone just like _that_, but I found you. I found you, and I'm coming to get you, Bella. Tell me where you are. What can you see?" She shot off, racing out of the house and into the trees.

_"Such a pretty voice. Like bells, musical bells that chase the pain away. Healing bells. Why do they make me feel so good?"_

"You're not making sense, my Bella. What's wrong? Tell me where you are, I need you in my arms. Please."

_"Crying Girl won't wake up, she has Sleeping Beauty's curse__,__ and I need your healing bells, Pretty Voice."_

"Bella, I don't understand!" Some of the hysteria returned to Alice's voice as she raced throughout the trees, looking for the girl.

_"The bells sound sad… It's my fault again."_ Alice listened to Bella take a deep breath, her voice troubled and frustrated. _"There are gaps where my thoughts fall through, and they make you sad. They make Crying Girl upset. I can't fill them."_

"Bella…"

_"She took my thoughts, pulled them from my head… She hid them in the heavy fog so that I can't find them, so that you don't know what I know." _Bella paused. _"But I locked away the best ones."_

"Tell me where you are, Bella."

_"I will help Crying Girl before the fog thickens again, before I don't know what I know now."_

"Bella, wait—" The line disconnected as her mate hung up on Alice. "Where _are_ you?"

Somewhere in these woods. Her mate was somewhere in these woods, and Alice _was_ going to find her. And once she did, she would try to figure out why Bella was talking like that, what this other witch did. Then she was going to hunt this witch down and kill her.

Her nostrils flared as she sniffed the air, searching for a faint scent to follow.

**XxxxXXxxXXxxXX**

**Boom – update!**

**Been a while, sorry 'bout that, but I was, um, lazy really. Just lazy. No excuses. Sorry.**

**Tell me what you think, eh? All our little situations going on, Kate and Jessica, Tanya and Bella, Alice and the Cullens. Who will find who first? Will Kate kick Jess's ass? Will Bella help Tanya in time? Will Alice find Bella? What's up with Felix and Demetri? **

**Reviewwww!**

**-Paige.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; if I, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing here writing about it when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '...' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

_BELLA_

The ragged girl slid the sleek phone closed, putting it back into the unconscious Tanya's pocket again where she had found it. She almost hadn't answered it, listening to the little musical ring it had. She was glad she did, though. She liked the voice on it. "A pretty voice," she repeated again, getting to her feet. "Like the pretty eyes. Does Pretty Voice have pretty eyes? She must." Bella paused, tilting her head to the side. "Must she? She doesn't _must_, not if she don't want to. Sometimes you just _are_."

The blonde by her feet grumbled, her head lolling forward now that it wasn't resting on her sister's shoulder.

It reminded Bella of what she was doing before hand, freeing her from the never ending loop that threatened to swallow her whole. "Crying Girl," she stated, looking down at her. "You have a boo-boo and we need healing bells." Without another word, she bent down and scooped the blonde up and over her shoulder in one swift movement, grunting at the weight. The air around them rippled until she felt stronger, adjusting Tanya on her shoulder. The blonde grumbled again, though her eyes remained closed.

Picking a direction, one with the clearest path, Bella walked off to find something to stop the red stuff on Crying Girl's back. "Pretty Eyes, the one I know in my head, could have a pretty voice too," she began, pushing a branch out of her way. "Those healing bells might be hers. And you…you feel like a dream. Or am I one?" She shook her head, frowning. "No, it hurts too much. I have to be real to feel it. That makes you a dream. Makes Pretty Eyes a dream. You're both there, locked away. You can't be real if I can't feel you…and all I can feel is pain."

Her face turned grim, the shadows of the forest growing as the sun kept getting lower and lower in the sky.

She wouldn't be able to see soon.

"When the pain leaves, what will be left? The fog is taking everything away and leaving nothing behind." Her voice shook, real fear in her eyes as she looked around. "I'm scared, Crying Girl. I think it's going to take me too. If the pain leaves, I'm going to be nothing. Nothing but a dream."

The ground shook, thunder sounding off in the distance, in another part of the forest.

Bella barely registered it, her fading thoughts darker.

Her voice carried over the eery quiet, twigs cracking under her feet. "How can you save a dream?"

_EMMETT_

The two giants snarled at one another, Felix picking himself up from the ground. He smirked, crouching low and waiting for the Cullen's next move. "I was right," he grinned, circling around the other vampire. "You _are_ strong."

"Stronger than you," Emmett snarled, blurring at him. Her swung his fist out, barely grazing Felix's cheek before the Volturi member was back on the other side of the small clearing. "You can go find your friend and leave. We don't need you, and you're no longer welcome."

Felix straightened out, shrugging his shoulder. His tone and face were innocent when he replied, fixing his tie. "I apologize if I've offended you, Cullen. I was merely informing you of the benefits of joining us-"

"I know what you were trying to do. Save it," The giant Cullen growled, glaring fiercely. "We've had enough of you two trying to sway us, trying to rip this family apart just to join your stupid guard. We said no, that's it. That's all. _No_."

Quelling his own growl, Felix ran a hand through his hair. "I understand that, but have you ever given it a proper thought? I can _promise_ you more p-"

"Power and strength, yeah, I _got_ that the first time you said it." Emmett said, folding his large arms over his chest. "There are more important things in life than that. I'm not a petty man, Felix. My values aren't as superficial as that. I care about my mate. I care about my family. I care about a guilt free, long and happy life. If it means I can't be my best, my strongest, my most powerful, then so be it. It's a fine trade off for me." His golden eyes darkened and he took a threatening step forward. "What I _don't_ care for is _small_ men like you and Demetri taking advantage of stressed out, _innocent_ people in their most vulnerable hour, trying to confuse them while they're weary."

"I-"

Emmett took another step forward, raising up his fist in front of him, glaring darkly. "You so much as _look_ at my sister again before we find her mate, and I'll crush your face. Got it?"

_"Capito,"_ Felix nodded, his own eyes dark.

With more of the gold returning to his eyes, Emmett lowered her fist and relaxed his stance. He rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath in through his nose. "Find Demetri and get lost." He said quietly. Felix hesitated a moment, knowing that he'd probably be in for a storm back at the Volturi castle. He hadn't managed to sway anyone, he hadn't even managed to plant any doubts. He could only hope Demetri had done better. Emmett stepped in his way before Felix could blur away, a little nagging voice at the back of his head that sounded an awful lot like his adoptive father. "And, uh, I guess tell Aro thanks for the help. That we appreciated it and stuff."

A small his escaped Felix's lips before they curled up into a smirk. "Tell him yourself. You'll be seeing us again sooner than you think."

With that, he sped out into the trees to find the blonde.

_KATE_

"Whoa," Kate puffed, ducking behind a tree to shield herself from the enormous fireball that had been hurled at her.

She _really_ didn't like how many different…people this Witch had collected, and their affinities. She really, _really_, didn't like that she was using her sisters' affinities on her.

The rough bark dug into her shoulders as she pressed herself back against the trunk, flames dancing around the edges and lapping at her sides. She hissed in pain, glad she was wearing long sleeves, and glared at the hot flames. This seriously had to end soon, she'd had enough. The little scratches from the branches, gashes from hard landings, burns and bruises, all the little things were adding up. Not to mention, she was _exhausted_. Using her affinity as much as she had, was pushing her limits. Her muscles were burning, her _brain_ was burning, her stomach was…empty, and strangely enough empty and hungry enough to a degree that she was _aware_ of it as she flinched away from _flames._

"You had enough yet?" Kate hollered over the flames, sighing in relief when they died out moments later. She turned around, pressing her front against the tree, and slowly edged her face to the side. Her green eye peered around the corner, searching the other trees for Jessica, narrowing when they landed on her a couple trees away. "Why haven't you collapsed yet?"

The Witch had been using _way_ more affinities than Kate had.

She should have been floored long ago.

Jessica tossed her head back, laughing. "You _really_ aren't the smart sister, are you? Neither of you can compare to my brilliant Isabella." She grinned as that green eye narrowed even more, the air cackling with static. "I've been using her affinity, taking _your_ energy. So the question to be asked here is; why haven't _you_ collapsed yet?"

Flipping back around to lean against the trunk, Kate scrubbed her hands over her face in frustration. So, this Witch was nowhere near done with her yet, and she was about to pass out, basically. Great. Okay. She could work with that. No more affinities and she should be fine. Mostly. Until Jessica sucked _all_ the energy out of her.

Why hadn't she already?

Was she _playing_ with Kate?

Was she _distracting_ her? From Bella? From Tanya, who hadn't mentally sent her anything yet?

"Come on out, little Katie."

Her fists clenched and she glared back around the tree. "Don't call me that," she growled.

Jessica smiled sweetly, a look that was entirely too fake. "I _will_ be with Isabella, we're _going_ to be a family soon. We should try to get along," she teased.

"A Snowball's chance in a cat-scan you'll _ever_ be a part of our family." Kate shot out from behind the tree as the flames engulfed it again, ducking behind another and then another to escape the fire. "If I can't, Tanya will kill you before it happens. Never mind that - _Alice_ is going to rip off your face the second she sees you for laying a _finger_ on her mate."

Jessica snarled, enraged, and started actually lighting the trees aflame. "She's not Alice's _mate_, she's _mine_. Mine! I _have_ her, I've _won_." She could barely see past her rage and the fire now circling around her, and most definitely didn't notice the blonde sneaking around her through the trees, trying to get behind her. "_I_ went through all this work, _I_ planned everything out, _I_ rounded up the Warlocks, _I_ found the cabin, _I_ brought her here, and _I_ learned the spell. I've earned this. Her. She's mine."

For the second time in two hours, Kate smirked at the Witch and muttered, "Wanna bet?"

The brunette gasped and spun around in time to get a small, but _very_ painful fist in the cheek, sending her to the forest floor. She didn't have time to react before the blonde was on her and small but very painful fists were raining down on her. She couldn't even move to use any affinities or throw in her own punch. She was helpless to do anything but try and block her face as best she could.

Kate wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting on Jessica and throwing punch after punch after punch, but she knew that she had to do something to end this soon. Punches weren't going to cut it, and she knew that the second she stopped, she wouldn't be able to start again.

There was no more fight left in her.

She was just so _tired_.

And so, as the last punch flew down, she made sure it was crackling with electricity.

Enough to stun, and evidently, incapacitate the Witch.

With an aching huff, Kate took one last look at the bruised, unconscious face beneath her, and collapsed down beside her, breathing heavily.

Next on the agenda?

Finding her sisters.

_ALICE_

"Any sign of her?" Alice asked, skidding to a stop next to her mother and her sister. She sniffed the air around them, growling as she only picked up the scents of the earth and the forest. No freesias, no Bella.

The other two exchanged frowns, hesitantly shaking their heads. "I'm sorry, honey. We haven't. Not yet, but we will."

Alice opened her mouth to respond, but her pocket vibrated and a jingle filled the air. Hoping that it was Bella again, even if she was just going to spout…nonsensical things, she quickly pulled it out of her pocket and pressed it against her ear. "Hello!" She said brightly, hopefully.

_"Alice? Why are you so happy? Have you found Bella?"_ Kate's voice was confused and hopeful as well, speaking quickly.

With a deep sigh, Alice's shoulders slumped. "No, I thought you were her. I called Tanya's phone earlier and she picked up. I've called a few more times, but I can't get an answer. I'm assuming you Shimmered here once we left, correct?"

Kate hesitated, unable to detect the tone of the pixie's voice for the last part. _"…Maybe? So that means Tanya is with Bella then, good. We've just got to find them. I haven't been able to establish a connection either, though."_

The statuesque blonde vampire crossed her arms over her chest, glaring off into the trees. "That isn't a good thing, is it?"

_"Not really."_

"But it's not a _bad_ thing, for certain," Esme piped in, trying not to bring her daughters down more. "Right? Maybe you're just out of range? How far off did you wander from her to look for Bella?"

_"Well, I was…inclined to leave the area, quite a bit. It's a long story, but while we're on it, I may need a favour."_

"What is it?" Rosalie asked, hearing the fatigue in the girl's voice and the hesitation before the word inclined.

_"I've been sitting here, catching my breath and taking a rest, and I thought about something. Jessica had to have kept Bella somewhere around here, and she couldn't have kept her unconscious this entire time, right? She wouldn't have wanted to - she's obsessed with her and would have wanted interaction. It makes me wonder how she got Bella to stay."_

Rosalie furrowed her brows. "Couldn't she have tied her up or something?"

"Chains," Esme and Rosalie looked up, alarmed at the enraged growl coming from Alice. The pixie took a deep breath. "She…_chained_ Bella to a chair…there was blood."

Esme gasped and covered her mouth with a horrified look, Rosalie snarling. Kate's voice was the closest thing she could get to a growl as well. _"Regular chains wouldn't have stopped her from Shimmering, or from Tanya Summoning her. They must have been anti-magic. Could one of you grab them for me? I'm not sure how long I've got until Jessica wakes up again."_

Rosalie smirked. "I knew you'd been in a fight. Congratulations."

"It's a mile or two back there," Alice pointed through the trees. Rosalie nodded before blurring off in the direction, disappearing into the trees. "Are you alright, Kate?"

_"I'm good. Gave her a good smack for you and the others."_

Unable to help herself, Alice felt a small smile threaten to pull at her lips. She shook her head, sighing. "Alright, well, there's some good news. At least we don't have to worry about her hurting Bella anymore. She's okay and we just need to find her and Tanya."

_"Yeah…"_

She heard the hesitation and slight frustration in the blonde's voice, and frowned. "What? What now? She _is_ okay, right?" Other than the obvious after being held captive for days.

_"I think so…? It's just something Jessica said."_

"What did she say?" Esme asked quietly.

Kate sighed. _"Something about a spell. She was trying to make a point and said she learned a spell. It was big and important enough to mention. I don't…I don't know."_

Alice ran her small hands through her hair, suddenly feeling very tired for the first time in her vampiric life. She wished she could just close her eyes and fall asleep, and when she'd open them again, Bella would be there with her, smiling, stuttering, and making her feel like her heart was beating. "Okay," she finally sighed. "We'll deal with one thing at a time. The first and most important, is that we actually _find_ Bella. And Tanya."

_"Right. Well, I'll wait here for Rosalie. I'm, um, if I can read the sun's position correctly, I'm south and they're nowhere close. So you can tick that off your list of areas to search."_

"Okay. I'll call you if we hear anything," Alice said quickly, hearing her phone beep on the other line. She waited for Kate to agree and hang up before answering her other call. "Carlisle?"

_"Give her back!"_ Alice gasped at her mate's voice in the background, followed by what sounded like an explosion. She heard Emmett curse and the wind blowing into the phone as the two blurred into cover. _"Alice, we've found Bella. I don't know what's wrong, but she's-"_

_"Carlisle, duck! Bella, cut it out! We're just trying to help, I'm not going to hurt Tanya!"_

_"She's delirious, Alice. She doesn't recognize us, and she doesn't know the name Tanya. She keeps calling her Crying Girl."_

"Where are you?" Alice demanded, looking around the trees. Esme bit her lip, ready to race off as soon as they knew which direction to head.

_"Start heading east, you'll find Jasper relatively quickly. He couldn't follow us; Tanya is bleeding. He's calling Edward as we speak, so we should all meet up. Please hurry, we're running out of trees."_

Esme didn't have time to question what he meant by that before Alice had hung up and the two were racing off through the forest.

Her mind thought back to what Kate had said about a spell and how delirious Bella was now, hoping there would be some way to reverse it.

_BELLA_

The tree those men had been hiding behind erupted into an explosion of bark and leaves and branches, snapping in half and falling backwards like the others. Bella panted, her chest heaving as she glared with those dark cloud filled eyes. The air around her rippled, the ground trembling as she pulled in enormous amounts of energy to keep herself standing, clenching her fists.

These men would not steal Crying Girl from her.

"Bella, please, just take a deep breath and think about this for a moment. You _know_ us," Carlisle called out, his voice calm and soothing, hoping to have an affect on her. "I'm _Carlisle_ and that's _Emmett_ and we really need you to calm down so I can take a better look at _Tanya,_ your sister."

A glowing, flickering ball appeared in her hands and she started folding and packing more energy into it. "Give her to me."

"I can't do that, Bella. You're not well."

"I _am_! It's just the fog! I know what I know, it's just hidden, and I can help her! I have to help her! Give her back to me!" She cried, hurling the ball towards them.

They ducked and it went sailing off through the trees behind them. Emmett cursed again as the blood began soaking through his shirt he'd ripped off to hold over Tanya's wound. "We don't have a lot of time, Carlisle. It's not a bad wound, but if it isn't treated soon…"

"She will lose too much blood," the blonde doctor finished, nodding grimly. "But we can't leave Bella alone. Not in this condition; she may be even worse than Tanya."

Emmett ran his only bloodless hand through his hair, growling. "We won't then. You take Tanya, I'll distract Bella so you can get away, and I won't take my eyes off her until the others arrive."

"Are you sure?" Carlisle asked. His son nodded, handing him the unconscious girl he cradled to his chest. "Alright, I'll head closer to town, to our house just on the outskirts. I have equipment there to take care of this and Bella, when the others get here bring them."

"Okay," Emmett agreed, peeking up to look at his ragged friend. He counted to three, jumping over one of the falling trees they had been hiding behind, and started waving his arms around. "Bella Boo, look at me! A moving target! You wanna fire off energy at people, let's make it more of a challenge!"

Carlisle waited until Bella beagle hurling wall after wall of energy at his son before he blurred off through the trees, certain that she hadn't seen him.

With a howl of pain, Emmett smashed backwards into a tree and slid to the floor of the forest. He looked down at his chest with wide eyes, seeing the spiderweb cracks covering him. When Edward has said, the one time Bella used her affinity on him, how much damage it could cause, he didn't really believe him. He'd thought Edward was just being a baby. After all, how could _energy,_ something you can't see or feel, hurt so much?

He was regretting not heeding Edward's words now.

Clearing his throat to dispel the windless feeling he had, Emmett got back to his feet. "Good one, Tacobell." He grimaced, leaning backwards to crack his back. "That kinda tickled. Let's see some real moves now, eh?" He quickly ducked under another flashing ball and grinned. "That's more like it!"

"It's not a game, you idiot," Edward hissed from the trees with his brother, Jasper, crouched beside him. The two ducked behind trees at the flashing balls thrown at them, Edward frowning. He remembered the last time he was hit with one, and did not want a repeat performance. "Where's Tanya?"

Emmett leaped to the side, shattered bark raining down on him as he landed in the grass. "Carlisle took her to fix that wound. He went to the London house."

"We should try to calm Bella down so he can check on her, too." Jasper said, peeking around the tree. He quickly ducked at the energy being hurled his way.

The giant idly picked at the grass he was laying in, kicking his feet back and forth like a child as he rolled his eyes. "Oh _really_," he drawled sarcastically. "And here I wanted to rile her up more."

"Bella!" Alice gasped excitedly, rushing into the large clearing they were all in, with Esme, Rosalie, and Kate hot on her heels, a brunette sprawled over Rosalie's shoulder.

_"Duck!"_ All the boys shouted at the same time.

Everyone scattered at the large wall of energy flying towards them, blowing back the trees from its force. It was widespread though, weak enough where it barely made the vampires stumble, and Alice shot back over a second later. "Bella!" She shouted, concern and shock in her voice. "Stop, we're here to help."

Bella, holding another ball of energy up, ready to launch it, paused.

Ink black hair cropped short, bangs brushing a small chin. Flawless pale skin like porcelain, thick black lashes surrounding bright golden eyes. Small features giving her an overall pixie-like appearance.

She took a tentative step forwards, her brows furrowed. "I know you. You're the one in my head, the one that I see. You're Pretty Eyes, but you're also Pretty Voice."

"Bella," Alice whispered, blurring up closer to her. She stopped when her mate flinched back, and held out her hand. "Why are you talking like that? What's wrong with your eyes?"

"The spell," Kate called from the other side of the clearing. "We should get her somewhere safe, I need to go pick up Duchess. I…there might be something in there. I think."

"Either way, we need to get her out of this forest and looked after." Esme said, taking in the bruises and scratches, the dehydration and fatigue.

Alice nodded, taking another, slower, step closer to her mate. "Bella, take my hand. Can you do that? We're going to go for a run now, okay?" Bella tilted her head to the side, unable to look away from the golden eyes. At least she was calm now, Alice's voice soothing her. She stepped towards the pixie, reaching out with her shackled hand to take the much cooler one. Alice suppressed her growl at the red, raw skin of Bella's wrist, and ghosted her fingers over it gently. Jessica would pay for hurting her mate. "Are you ready?"

The ragged girl's eyes flickered up to the others in the clearing, uncertain and wary. They each gave her a reassuring smile that made her fidget.

"Hey," Alice tugged gently on her hand. "Just look at me, they're not going to hurt you. You know them. They're our family." The girl looked unconvinced and Alice sighed quietly, pulling her closer. "Just trust me, okay?" She waited until Bella slowly nodded before twirling around and hoisting the girl onto her back, who gave a delighted squeal that again had Alice's mouth curving up slightly. She looked over at Kate on Jasper's back, and Jessica still over Rosalie's shoulder, nodding to them. "Hold on tight, Bella."

Bella gasped as they sped through the trees, squeezing the pixie tightly. "We're flying!" She cried in delight, hugging Alice tighter.

It wasn't too long before the others finally reached the mansion on the outskirts of town, and slowed down to enter. The smell of Tanya's blood filled the house, but the vampires had become accustom to the girls and their scents, and in such a time as this their eyes only darkened. They were too stressed to actually be hungry.

In the living room, Carlisle was finishing up tying crisp white bandages around Tanya's torso, a TV dinner table with a bunch of his medical tools set up next to the couch she was laying on. He looked up as the others entered, the only vampire out of them all with bright golden eyes still. "She will be fine." He told Edward who blurred over to kneel beside the couch, taking his mate's hand. His face was full of concern and worry, but at his father's words, he seemed to calm down slightly. "She's fractured a rib or two, and though the puncture wound is deep, it wasn't very large. Three centimetres wide, if that."

"Water," Bella chirped. The others looked at her, Esme quickly blurring off to grab a class of the liquid. The ragged girl had her chin resting on Alice's shoulder, her arms splayed out around her shoulders, her cheek resting against a cool one. The fatigue was really starting to wear her out. "And blue sprinkles. Tingles are like healing bells. Tingle bells. Tinkerbell. You're like Tinkerbell!" She gasped, beaming down at Alice who didn't know whether to smile or cry. "I know her. I still do. The fog hadn't taken her from me yet."

"Oh!" Kate gasped, slapping her hand to her forehead. She grimaced, unintentionally slapping a particularly hurtful gash. "Water, it's a-"

"Healing element," Edward said with her. She raised an incredulous eyebrow and he shrugged his shoulders, looking down to his mate, tucking a lock of her blonde hair out of her face. "Tanya told me, when she was trying to wake you up."

Kate looked down at her feet, leaning into Jasper's side as he put an arm around her. "Right, well, Tanya just needs a little rest, right?"

With a sigh, Carlisle ran a hand through his hair. "A little rest, yes. I would also like to get some more blood in her, do you know her type?"

"Me." She said abruptly, jerking forward. "Me and Bella, we all share the same type; O."

Jasper took a large gulp, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment.

"Do you mind giving her some blood then?" He asked gently.

She nodded furiously. "I'd love to, but, um, the water." She turned back to Alice and her ragged sister who was chugging the glass of water Esme had handed her. "I meant it for Bella. This…fog spell or whatever it is, if it's…progressive, like she seems to be describing, then water and the dust should at least keep it from spreading. Do you guys think you can keep her in the shower with the cold water running, while I Shimmer back to the mansion and grab Duchess and the salt? Then I'll come back here and give blood, and we'll wait for Tanya to wake up. We're also going to have to contact a Witch Doctor, no offence Carlisle but spells aren't exactly in your department."

Carlisle watched the frazzled girl try to gather herself and keep cool, making a list in her mind. He nodded, smiling gently again and began setting up. "Alright, Jasper why don't you go with her. Edward, I trust you're going to stay in here with your mate?" The bronze haired boy nodded solemnly. "Emmett, Rosalie, why don't you take Jessica," He still couldn't believe the Witch had been a Forks residence, _Jessica_ the school gossip for that matter. "To the basement and wait for her to wake up. She may have more information on this spell of hers. Esme, Alice, why don't you take Bella upstairs to the master washroom and try to keep her there."

They all nodded, Jasper and Kate Shimmering out of the room while Rosalie sloppily trudged off to the stairs leading to the basement, making sure to sway. Banging the Witch's head on the wall on her way was a _complete accident_. Alice tightened her grip on Bella before blurring up the stairs with Esme who sent Carlisle a tense smile before following them.

"How about a nice cool shower, Bella?" Esme asked, turning the nob until it was chilly, but not going to freeze the girl. She stepped aside as the other two approached, Alice trying to guide Bella into the shower. "Here, let me just get this…" She reached over, pinching the metal shackle and pulled it apart like it was made of paper.

Alice stepped forward again, trying to block Bella's way and force her towards the shower. "Come on, Bella. This will make you feel better." But no matter how hard she tried, Bella just continued to cling to her until she wrapped her arms around Alice's shoulders and buried her face in the crook of her neck. "Fine," she sighed, smiling softly as she stepped into the shower herself.

She felt Bella gasp and stiffen at the cool temperature of the water before settling against her again, and began rubbing soothing circles on her back. Esme fiddled around in the cupboards, grabbing a few things before she walked over and sat down on the edge of the tub. "I should take a look at some of her wounds, Alice." She said softly, regretfully.

Her daughter nodded and coaxed Bella to sit down with her. The taller girl was soon sitting in the pixie's lap, laying back against her chest as Alice circled her arms around her and rested her chin on top of Bella's head. "She'll be okay, right?"

Esme dabbed at the raw wrist in her hands with a damp hand towel, cleaning away the dried blood that had been crusted on. She knew her daughter wasn't talking about the superficial wounds her mate had. "I can't say that she _won't_ be okay," she offered the worried vampire.

"But you can't say she _will_ be, either." Alice said quietly. Her mother's eyes flickered away from her own, choosing to stay silent as she continued her work. Alice blinked fiercely, feeling her eyes sting with tears that would never fall. "I'm so sorry, Bella." She buried her face in her mate's hair, taking a deep breath to try and calm down.

Bella looked up at the shower head, letting the water run down her face. "Rain helps life grow. Maybe it will help my thoughts grow back. The dream will go with the pain and I'll be me and you'll be real."

The tiny vampire's shoulders shook with a silent sob, holding Bella tighter to her.

**XXXXXX**

**Update, whooo! **

**What do ya guys think?**

**We're drawing towards the end of this story, my friends. Just a few more chapters left to tie things up, and we shall be finished. First multichapter fic for me to have finished ever. I'm not sure how I feel about that yet, kinda excited, kinda scared. I'm afraid I'll have left things out, loose ends that need to be finished. So do me a favour? Please? Tell me ANYTHING you think needs to be explained and touched on still. ANYTHING you can think of that needs to be put in these final chapters. **

**Review and stuff, please. : )**

**-Paige**


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; if I, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing here writing about it when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '...' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

_BELLA_

Things were looking up.

Well, no one really knew that for sure, but Alice liked to think that things were slowly starting to get better. Tanya was patched up and resting, having received blood from Kate who was also resting while she searched through Duchess. Jessica had woken up an hour or so ago, and Rosalie and Emmett were currently dealing with her, trying to get any information they could from the Witch. The task was proving more difficult than they anticipated, as she refused to talk to anyone but Bella. Bella herself was… well her eyes were cleared up and back to normal, a deep ocean blue and warm chocolate brown, and the girl herself was a tad more lucid.

Currently she was sitting in the back of the tub under a light spray of water while Alice sat at the front, tossing pinches of blue powder at her now and then. There was a dusting of it on her cheeks that wouldn't wash away, really bringing out the blue of her eye and the paleness of her skin as she stared hard at Alice. She had been trying to explain to the pixie just how the dust worked when she paused, leaned forward, and almost glared at the girl.

Alice, taken aback by the action, leaned back into the faucet of the tub, her golden eyes wide. The Witch frowned. "I buried a chest," she murmured thoughtfully. "Deep down in the bottom of the ocean so her black fingers couldn't take it from me. Golden things of mine were in it. Precious. But not expensive." Alice feebly tried to follow along. "Your name was in the chest."

With another sad smile -how many of those had she given the girl now?- Alice tossed another pinch of blue powder at her. "I don't understand, Bella. You don't know my name?" The thought made her heart ache. "I'm-"

"Shhhhh!" Bella jerked forward, pressing a scratched up hand against the vampire's mouth, nearly sitting in her lap again. "I can't use the key if you find it for me."

"…What?"

"This porcelain boat is enormous!" The girl declared, pushing her glasses back up her nose as she scooted back. Alice shook her head with a sigh, grabbing another pinch of blue. "Renee had a big one, too. There was room for way more than three little Witches."

Golden eyes widened comically as Alice's head snapped up. "What? What did you just say, Bella? Who's Renee? Bella, focus please. Who…is…Renee?" She asked slowly, latching onto this name. It was the first thing the girl had said since she was found that made any semblance of sense.

The ragged girl glanced off the the side, looking so far away, lost in another world. In memories. She looked normal like that, she looked like Alice's Bella; thoughtful and serious. She almost sounded normal too. "My mother. The girl without a face didn't take her from me, or Charlie. She didn't take them." Her eyes closed and Alice couldn't tell if it was water from the shower or a tear from her eye. "I wish she had."

"Your mother?" Alice questioned. She bit her lip. "You never talk about your parents or really even before you moved to Forks." She knew from Tanya and Kate that the past was a touchy subject for their sister and Alice shouldn't hold her breath for getting the girl to open up about it. "Can you tell me about her?"

Bella quickly shook her head, wrapping her arms around her chest. "No! No, no, no, no, no." Her eyes opened again and Alice knew it was tears this time. Her eyes were red and puffy. "It hurts, Pretty Eyes."

"I know, Bella, I know. But…but this might help. Remembering your past might help fix your head, okay?" When the Witch sniffled, Alice gently tugged her into her lap again, holding her tight against her chest. "Please, Bella. I just want to help you," she whispered.

They sat like that for a long moment, letting the water pour over them and Alice had almost given up. Thought her words, like many things, were lost in Bella's mind. But the girl shifted slightly, resting her head over Alice's heart and once again marvelled at the lack of a beat. "She had blue and green eyes, like Crying Girl." She paused. "And light, light hair, too. Her smile was the sun and her laugh was the music I play. We were night and day."

"You must be a lot like your father then."

"Both eyes were brown," she murmured. "And he had a big moustache. It hid his smile and you could only ever tell that he was by the crinkles in his eyes." Bella said slowly, sounding just like she had before. Alice smothered the excitement in her chest and took a deep breath to stay calm. She had to keep Bella talking, remembering. Keep her thoughtful like this.

"What did they do for a living?" Alice asked, tucking the girl's wet locks behind her ear.

The Witch hummed, closing her eyes again as her mind flashed back to a better time. A happy time full of smiles and laughter and love. Where she didn't know this heartache, this guilt and pain. "She spread her knowledge like a flower spreads its pollen, and he was a protector of the innocent."

She wasn't absolutely sure, but Alice had a feeling that meant… a teacher and a cop?

"What happened to them?"

Alice watched as those blue and brown eyes clouded over, lost and haunted.

_Bella felt stiff and numb, so cold and detached. The third gunshot made her jump again, flinching as she felt wet drops pelt her. She opened her eyes, unable to keep them closed no matter how hard she tried, staring at the crimson spots on her glasses._

"She killed them," Bella replied quietly, blinking a few times.

The pixie flinched, feeling her chest clench at the pain in her mate's voice. "Jessica?" That couldn't be right, the girl would have been just a child. "Who?"

The witch folded her arms over her chest, holding the pain inside or trying to keep it out, she wasn't sure. "The little girl with the mismatched eyes. Ice and chocolate."

Golden eyes widened in surprised and Alice fought to keep her composure. Surely…surely Bella didn't _actually_ kill her parents. Kate or Tanya would have mentioned that. And the girl just didn't have it in her, her Bella wasn't a killer. She wasn't even violent. "How…how did the little girl kill them?"

"A book. It was all for a book, one with the most expensive price - the _ultimate_ price!" Bella declared darkly. "Such a selfish child she was, had to have her precious book right then, couldn't wait. No, no! As if it would somehow lose its quality over night!"

"Bella…" Alice began, trying to get her mate to calm down. This wasn't helping anymore, this was just getting her worked up and that's the last thing the girl needed right then. Carlisle told her to take it easy, to rest and wait for the witchdoctor.

It was too late though, there was a fire in those mismatched eyes. "Desperation is like a disease, corrupts the host, makes them do things they shouldn't. Things they wouldn't. He couldn't listen to reason, no matter how hard Charlie tried. For me, they were scared - I was a child and he had a gun."

Alice tried to keep Bella in her arms as the Witch pulled away, huddling at the other end of the tub. "Maybe we should take a break, Bella."

"If I didn't cry, it wasn't real, hadn't happened, was just a dream. The thing about nightmares is you always have them, eventually they come back, one way or another. Irina and her family… I d-didn't mean to. I should have known better, but how could I? I was still just a child." She shook her head, hugging her knees to her chest. "They said it was a car accident. An accident! It was a curse. I finally warmed up to them again, began to care. My love is a death sentence."

"Bella, listen to me. None of that was your fault, I'm sorry I brought it up. Let's just calm down," Alice urged, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders as she got more and more riled up.

The Witch shook her head, crawling out of the tub to start pacing, dripping on the tiled floor. "No, no, no! Anger triggers adrenaline, adrenaline makes the fog dissipate. Gives me clarity, only a little. But enough! Enough to remember…no, not to remember, but to know! I know, it's still there, but she's hiding it from me. I-in the fog!"

"What?" Alice asked, climbing out of the tub and standing in front of Bella, stopping her pacing. "Bella, what are you saying? You're…getting better?"

"I'm drowning in madness," she began, pushing open the door to the bathroom and walking towards the stairs with Alice following helplessly behind. "Insanity is poisoning my mind, but anger is my life raft. Fleeting, slowly sinking…but I can breathe for now."

"How can we help then?" Alice asked eagerly as more and more of her Bella entered those eyes. She reached forward, grabbing a scratched up hand in her own, gazing up at Bella.

"She thought she took everything from me, took you from me," the Witch interlaced her fingers with Alice's, pressing her lips into a firm line as she studied her face. "She didn't, couldn't. I wouldn't let her. So she hid it all from me, in that fog. Confused what I know and what she wanted me to know."

The pixie bit her lip. "So…we just need to get rid of the fog?"

"If we're to trust the ramblings of insanity," Bella nodded thoughtfully.

"You're not making this easy." The pout was as clear in her voice as it was on her face.

_KATE_

"You _bitch_! Just tell us how to fix her!" Kate snarled, the lights in the basement flickering dangerously. Static filled the air, making the hairs on everyone's skin stand up as the Witch paced in front of the chair Jessica was chained to.

Finding herself in much the same position she'd had Isabella in for days, the Witch gathered the thick warm liquid in her mouth, spitting it out on the floor beside the chair. She looked up at Kate the best she could, one of her eyes already swelling up, and smirked through her cut lip. "Why try to fix perfection?"

Kate's hand shot out, slapping the Witch across her face, leaving a red print on her cheek. "I will…beat it out of you, don't think for one second that I…won't…" she threatened, taking a deep breath to stop the room from spinning.

"Aww, little Katie getting tired already?"

"Shut up!"

Rosalie blurred forward, catching Kate's hand gently, pulling her back towards the stairs as Jessica continued to taunt behind them. "You need to go lay down, Kate. You gave a lot of blood, you shouldn't be up, let alone _brawling_ with anyone right now."

"My little sister is _freezing_ upstairs in the shower just so she won't lose any _more_ of her mind." She said harshly, pulling away from the vampire. Her stomach dropped and she had to catch herself on the wall, waving off Rosalie's hands again. "I have to do something, I can't just sit there and wait for my strength or the Witchdoctor. This…_witch _knows something. I can feel it."

With an annoyed huff, Rosalie lifted the weak girl off her feet, blurring over and setting her down on one of the couches in the basement with them. "Then _I_ will get it out of her, but you still need to rest. If you get up again, I'll chain _you_ down. Got it?"

"Fine," Kate muttered, grumbling to herself.

The blonde vampire rolled her eyes, turning back to the other Witch in the room. She circled around her back, leaning down until the red cheek was almost pressed up against her cool one. "I'm going to take the liberty and assume you've never met another vampire before. That means you probably have a very limited idea of our strength." She reached down, grabbing a warm hand in her own. "Allow me this little demonstration, if you will?"

Bones were crushed before the pain could even register in Jessica's brain, her jaw dropping open and heart seizing in her chest. Kate winced at the scream that pierced the quiet of the mansion, unable to smother the dark satisfaction at this monstrous girl's pain.

"Now," Rosalie began with a little smile as she walked around to stand in front of the Witch, crossing her arms over her chest. "There are twenty seven bones in the human hand, which leaves me one hundred and seventy nine left in your body to break. I don't know about you, but I like to get creative, mix things up a little bit. What shall we crush next?" She asked brightly, her eyes running along each and every limb the girl had.

Jessica glared fiercely as her hand throbbed, taking a deep breath in through her nose. "I would rather _die_ than let you have her back!"

"That can easily be arranged, little girl! Don't tempt me." Rosalie bared her fangs threateningly.

The Witch turned her face away, closing her eyes. "I'm not talking to anyone but my Isabella." She glared up at Rosalie quickly again, adding, "No matter how many bones you break."

"No!" Kate snarled from the couch. "You don't get to ever _look_ at her again!"

"She's _mine_!"

"No she's not!"

_"Enough!"_

Both Witches fell silent, looking up at Rosalie with wide eyes.

The vampire pinched the bridge of her nose, her golden eyes closed as she rubbed her temple. "You are giving me a freaking _headache._ Me. A vampire. Both of you just shut up for a minute." Rosalie took a deep breath, rolling her shoulders as she let it out. "Okay, _you,_" she pointed at Jessica who flinched back. "Bella is not yours, she's ours. Get that through your little obsessive head, or I'm going to kill you. _You_," Kate huffed as the vampire turned to point at her. "Last time I'm going to tell you - _settle down_, dammit! You have _no_ blood left to jump around with, okay? You're going to kill yourself before I get the chance."

The two remained silent, Kate continuing to grumble to herself while she glared daggers at Jessica.

Rosalie smiled. "Good."

_TANYA_

When her eyes finally opened again, it wasn't without pain or effort. She grimaced, blinking the bleariness from her vision as she struggled to sit up, only to have cold arms help her. She leaned back against Edward's chest, taking a deep breath that stabbed at her lungs. She quickly let it out again and deemed short, sharp, little breaths were more preferable.

"What happened?" She croaked, her mouth tasting…rusty. Metallic.

Bloody.

Edward pressed a kiss to her blonde hair, running his chilly fingers down her arm. "You were hurt, my love. We don't know much other than that; Carlisle and Emmett found Bella traipsing through the woods with you over her shoulder."

Images of her sister, scratched up, bruised, bleeding, barely standing, flashed through Tanya's mind. She remembered Bella absorbing energy from the forest around them, flinging her hand up and the energy shooting out. She remembered sailing through the air and hitting the tree, feeling something digging into her back.

"That Witch…she must have found me and attacked before I could," she lied, looking down and away from Edward's concerned golden eyes. "Got the drop on me. I'm glad Bella found me."

He nodded, holding her tighter. "As am I then. Who knows what else could have happened had she not shown when she did."

"Yeah…" Tanya mumbled. She looked around the room, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Where are we? I don't recognize this room."

"We're at the mansion in London," Edward replied. "Well, just outside of London, actually. We found you and Bella and called the others, then made our way back here so Carlisle could tend to you all."

"Bella. He fixed Bella, she's okay now?" Tanya asked quickly, struggling to get up. She hissed, trying to reach her wound as it burned.

Edward quickly guided her to her feet, frowning as she waved him off. "I'm afraid not, love. He has been…unable to do anything but patch her up. Esme mended her wounds and Alice has taken to looking after everything else, but there isn't anything we could do for her state of mind. Kate contacted a Witchdoctor before giving you blood, and now she's in the basement with Rose, questioning this Jessica girl."

The Witch slowly walked towards the door of the room, Edward holding her hand and elbow, keeping her steady. She smiled gratefully up at him, nodding to herself. "Okay, okay. The Witchdoctor should know what to do, Kate _should_ be resting though I can't imagine any of you having luck getting her to sit on her hands and wait. Bella is…comfortable with Alice, at least. Where are Jasper and Emmett?"

"Outside, patrolling the woods around us. We don't want any more of those warlocks showing up to save blood was also…difficult for Jasper to handle, he needed fresh air for a while." He said, guiding her towards the stairs. "I don't think-"

"You're not making this easy." Alice pouted up at her mate, though Edward could hear the excitement, the hope and happiness she had at the girl's lucidness. He quickly looked up into the Witch's face, astonished at how…normal she was looking.

Tanya's head whipped up. "Bella!"

All three watched as the ragged girl paused, tilting her head to the side as she gazed at her sister. Tanya waited for recognition to flash in those blue and brown eyes, but it never came, only a cold confusion. "I haven't found her for you yet," Bella began, slowly shaking her head. There was a spark of _something_ though, and it gave Tanya enough hope to offer a feeble smile. "But she's c-c-closer than you think."

"We just need to get rid of the fog!" Alice chirped happily, nearly bouncing with excitement at the prospect of saving, fixing, _having_ her Bella back. She hugged the girl's arm closer to her chest, beaming up at her. "And the Witchdoctor should know how to do that, right?"

Tanya grimaced again until the coolness of Edward's skin seeped through her bandages when he gently placed his hand over it. She sighed, thanking him quietly before approaching the other two girls. "I'm not sure, exactly. Not everyone is…educated in the black magics, as it's forbidden. I don't know if they permit Witchdoctors to dabble in it enough that she would have an idea what this is." She looked up at her sister curiously. "This is all assuming, of course, that you're actually suffering from black magic and dark spells."

"The glow of Tinkerbell's wings is my only light in this never ending dark fog."

Both Edward and Tanya looked to Alice. "That was a yes, right?"

**XXXXXXX**

**There is not enough time in the world for the amount of apologizing you deserve, waiting for an update to this as long as you have. Just know that I really am sorry, but I had the worst writer's block for the longest time, and I still kinda do but I thought I should try to get SOMETHING out for you guys. That's why this chapter is so short. **

**Aaanyways, here it is. Bella, conscious of it or not, is beginning to stumble upon loop holes within the dark spell she's under, Tanya's awake and getting better, Kate is probably going to kill Jessica when Rose isn't looking, Alice is just happy she's getting her mate back, and the Witchdoctor is stopping by! **

**If any of you are still reading this, I would appreciate your feedback and reviews. Perhaps pull me from this writer's block.**

**Oh! And, if you wouldn't mind doing me a teensy, little, itty, bitty favour? My sister is an artist, aspiring artist if you want to get technical, but she doesn't have as much confidence as she should because of an old boyfriend telling her to give up on the dream or something…glad he's gone. Anyways, she's beginning to post on deviantart but because she just started, no on knows about her, and no one has seen her stuff. So if any of you have time, would you mind stopping by, checking out her stuff, leaving comments? Anything to boost her confidence again, because she really is good. **

**Thank you so much to those of you who will. : ] It's brizzybee dot deviant art dot com slash pound slash dee five cue see are five double-you. Sorry ffnet is a flipping' douche and won't let me post a link. Or something even remotely close to a link. Freaking ridiculous. **

**-Paige**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: You have no idea how sick I am getting of writing this sentence over and over again; I do not own Twilight. It's pretty much a given; if I, or anyone else for that matter, owned Twilight, then what the hell would we be doing here writing about it when we could just be adding to the series and making money from it? Anyway, I also don't own anything that looks familiar or sounds familiar. A lot of it belongs to the show Charmed and everyone who created, wrote, directed, and all that other junk for the show.**

**Rated: T.**

**Author: Paige Turner.**

**Summary: AU. '...' Honestly, I can't think of a summary to write for this. Just know that if you like my other stuff, you like supernatural, and you like A/B, then you should definitely give this a read. It's my favourite of all my stuff right now. ^^**

_Bella._

**Tanya.**

_**Kate.**_

**You'll notice Bella speaking lyrics. Don't own those. **

_EVERYONE_

"How did you get her like this?"

Both sisters continued to stare at Bella, as they had been doing all afternoon. She sat on the sofa in the living room, her blue and brown eyes gazing into the blank television screen. One hand cupped her chin, her elbow resting on her knee with her brows furrowed, while the other was held in Alice's hand next to her. The pixie hadn't left her side for even a second since they'd been reunited, and it didn't look like she was about to any time soon.

Asking Esme, Tanya found out that this was expected. Someone had stolen Alice's mate from her, taken her most precious thing. Vampires were possessive by nature and clung to anything they believed belonged to them, whether it made sense or not, but Alice was different. Her case was a little more extreme. Apparently in all her vampiric years, there wasn't a single thing that she had given up or thrown away, if it meant something to her. Esme had speculated it had something to do with her amnesia. Already having her human life and, essentially, everything she ever had, known, witnessed, and thought, taken from her.

Tanya frowned absently, her mismatched eyes studying the tiny vampire sitting with her sister. She'd always seen Alice as this happy, energetic, tiny ball of cuteness. Everyone had, it was just her. Well, one part of her, the most prominent part. She never really considered the darker depths beneath that porcelain surface, not until Bella first went missing. Then she started to see the haunted sadness in those golden eyes, and smacked herself for not noticing it earlier because she knew what it looked like, she was familiar with it. She knew it as well as she knew her baby sister's face.

Maybe that's why they were mates? They had both experienced a pain you couldn't express?

Not that she or Kate hadn't felt pain before. Tanya knew the toll their parents' death took on her and her sister, the devastation of losing the Denalis. It was heartbreaking, agonizing, she remembered not being able to function for weeks after each funeral. Locking herself up in her room and sitting in her closet just…staring down at the floor beneath her feet. She didn't know why it was always the closet, perhaps because that's where she always hid everything as a kid. Bad report cards, stained clothes, Kate's doll, etc.

Hide her pain so her sisters didn't see. She had to be strong for them, their anchor, their rock as everything around them changed, was uncertain.

Kate was different in that sense. She was never afraid to express herself, especially her emotions. She wore her heart on her sleeve and trusted the universe to keep it safe, which seemed to work for the girl. Well, at least Tanya thought it did. There was a lot of screaming and crying and yelling and sobbing during the hard times. Kate would just break down and weep sometimes, or just…cling desperately to her sisters. But she was also the first one to smile again, to laugh. She dragged Tanya out of her depression eventually too, and so yes, Tanya felt that maybe Kate had the right idea.

And if Tanya's way wasn't right, then Bella's was just _wrong_. Absolutely wrong.

While the two sisters sat in their room, one with silent tears trying to hide her pain, the other screaming her frustration and hurt at the sky, forging through and releasing it all, Bella did the dishes. She washed their clothes and vacuumed. The girl went to the grocery store on her bike, and came home with things for supper and lunch and breakfast the next day. She would make them both plates, handing Kate's to her with a new box of kleenex and an awkward hug, and left Tanya's on her dresser outside the closet.

She didn't cry, not even in secret. Tanya would watch and wait, hide to see if she did when they didn't look. They would beg their younger sister to talk about it, open up, just say something. Anything. After two years, she finally did. The only time, the only thing she ever said about any of it.

I'm sorry.

That's all, no tears, no frown, hell - no smile, nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Kate would pace back and forth while Bella slept, trying to figure out what was wrong. The girl must be broken, she'd insist. Broken. And Tanya would talk her down, get her to take a breath. Their sister wasn't broken, she just dealt with things her own way. In her own time. Eventually she'd come to them, and they would work through it, because it was different. Bella was there, both times, when it happened. It must have been worse for her.

It was, she thought. They were both right, it _was_ worse, and she _was_ broken. Tanya just never wanted to admit it, mostly because she didn't know how to fix her.

Her eyes fell back to Alice, studying her once more.

Perhaps the pixie knew how to fix her, perhaps two broken pieces _do_ make a whole.

"I spoke to her," Alice began quietly. She ran her fingers over Bella's scraped up knuckles, her golden eyes landing on each blackish purple bruise beneath her mate's own blue and brown ones. Her cut lip, and the marks around her wrists. It was hard to know Bella wasn't only chained to a chair for a couple days and _not_ beaten to a pulp, what with how she looked. Maybe she was though. Who was to say that crazy girl in the basement didn't toss her mate around a few times?

The pixie closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Not blurring down those stairs and painting the walls with Jessica's blood was…difficult, to say the least. She tried to keep anything about the Witch from her mind because the only thing keeping her from doing it all was Bella's hand in hers.

"What did you talk about?"

Chewing on her lip, Alice looked up at her. "Your parents."

Both sisters' shoulders went rigid and Alice watched them shift around uncomfortably. Kate crossed her arms over her chest, gazing out the large window and the rain pelting against it. It was really starting to storm out there and Alice momentarily wished she and the others were out in the field, playing baseball. Tanya's face morphed into a slight scowl, crossing one leg over the other in the arm chair, her fingers gripping the arms tightly.

Two pairs of mismatched eyes exchanged looks and the vampire wondered if they were conversing in their heads. Kate searched Alice's face, for what, the pixie wasn't certain but it made her squirm. "What did she say?"

"Not a lot," she murmured thoughtfully. The Witches' expressions smoothed out a tad, and Alice could tell they were disappointed but not surprised. Bella must not have talked about their parents even with her sisters. She didn't know if she would talk about her humans ones, if she could remember them at all. The other Cullens never did either, so maybe it was a death thing. Maybe people just don't speak of the dead as often as they think. "Your mother was a teacher and your dad was a cop?"

She really wasn't sure if that's what Bella meant or not.

Tanya nodded though, a wistful smile on her lips. "Our mom taught kindergarden and our dad was Chief of Police."

"She told you how they died, then?" Kate asked and the smile vanished from her sister's face.

Looking up at Bella, Alice frowned at her far away look. She wasn't even in the room with them anymore. "Sort of," she hesitated. "Bella told me…she killed them."

Green and brown eyes rolled up to the ceiling while Tanya scoffed from her chair, both of them giving their sister a sour look. "She didn't kill them!" Tanya spat at the stoic girl sitting on the couch, almost glaring at the television with her intense look. The eldest sister's voice and face softened and she sighed deeply. "She didn't kill them, Alice. The only thing my little sister can be blamed for is having such devastatingly bad luck…and then, well, you can't really _blame_ someone for that…but you know what I mean."

"What happened?" Alice asked anxiously.

Warm fingers drew mindless shapes in the fogged up window, Kate resting her shoulder against it. She didn't have to look up to know Tanya's face turned blank, her jaw tight enough that she felt a throb in her own mouth. "Armed robbery that went bad," she sighed out sadly. "For our parents, at least. It was Bella's birthday and after going out for supper, she begged them to take her to get a book of hers that just came out. They went, instead of going to the park with me, Tanya, Irina, and her parents. Said they'd meet us." She wiped off the doodles she made. "Never did. Some young teenager desperate for money showed up and dad tried to reason with him."

_"I'm not the killing type. I'm not-I'm not the killing type."_ All three girls looked up at Bella as she quietly sang the words to herself.

The golden hue of her eyes dimmed, and Alice clenched her jaw at the sinking feeling in her chest. She helplessly looked at her mate, opening her mouth to try and form words she didn't want to say. To ask a question she didn't want the answer to. "She was there, with them? When it happened?"

Only silence answered her as the sisters stared anywhere but her or each other. It was enough, and she was thankful they didn't say anything, because as much as she didn't want to ask, she didn't want to _hear_ it even more.

"And she blames herself for it." She asked, though it came out as a statement. Alice sighed deeply, running her hand through her hair. "You said for your parents, at least? Was there…there was more?"

_"I couldn't kill to save a life."_

Tanya's eyes flickered up to her sister and to Alice's own onyx orbs. "The Denalis. They were friends of the family, took us in afterwards, raised us. Just a couple years ago now there was a car accident. Bella was the only survivor." After finally getting released from the hospital, the girl didn't talk for a few days, but that was it. Kate brought up the broken thing again, and Tanya ignored her. "Like I said…really bad luck. Or good, I guess, depending on how you look at it. Two life threatening situations she walked away from."

"Nevermore," the ragged girl muttered. She looked up at the others whose attention she gained, furrowing her brows. Pushing herself to her feet, those brown and blue eyes scanned the living room before landing on the front door. "And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door."

Alice got to her feet too, her pale hand brushing the Witch's back. "Bella, what-"

The only one not to gasp or jump, Bella tilted her head at the figure who flickered into the room, standing in front of the door. Tanya's hand was immediately lit aflame and she was hurling a swirling ball of fire at the young woman, only for her to flick her wrist. Her many metal, bead, and rope bracelets clinked together and the four watched as Tanya's fireball combusted just a few feet in front of the intruder, leaving her unscathed. Or rather, un-charred as it were.

"That is _not_ the greeting I was expecting, I must say." Her voice carried a heavy British accent, her words spoken in a friendly tone. Bright waves of white hair fell down well past her shoulders, random locks braided here and there, with feathers tied in them. Her light grey eyes popped with the darker, shadowed makeup that dusted her pale skin, her nails painted black and silver. Just as odd as the girl herself, her clothes were unique. Tight black pinstriped pants, and the biggest pair of combat boots Alice had ever seen, the laces undone and instead just tucked into the boot. Two…or maybe it was three belts hung around her hips, some with little leather pouches dangling on them, others just plain. She had a few layers of black, red, and grey tank tops on, with too many necklaces to count looped around her neck. Alice's golden eyes could spot a few stones and crystals hanging on them, odd little trinkets on others, and she swore somewhere in there was a Hello Kitty charm. A faded and worn black blazer she wore over top, with a leather fingerless glove on her left hand, and a bunch of rings on the other. Silver hoops and triangles hung from her ears, and all of it, everything about this girl, was enough to make Alice feel dizzy.

She'd never felt dizzy her entire life.

Looking to see if the girls were having a similar situation, Alice frowned when they were, in fact, not. Tanya was standing in front, flames dancing around her hand still, while Kate stood next to Bella with a threatening shadow over her face.

This…girl, seemed rather unfazed and looked back towards the door. "You know, I almost prefer the little cat and mouse chase those boys gave. Speaking of which," she glanced up towards Kate. "Why did you summon me to a house full of vampires?"

The sisters' rigid stance fell, Tanya looking over her shoulder to Kate. The middle sister raised an eyebrow, stepping forward. "You're the Witchdoctor?"

"No, I'm the pizza delivery boy," the girl deadpanned.

Both Emmett and Jasper came spilling in the front door, nearly tripping over each other. The two vampires were looking like they had just come out the bad end of a paintball war; blues, reds, yellows, and greens covering them from head to toe in splotches. "Witch!" Jasper cried, his foot sliding on the hardwood floor, leaving an orange streak as he slipped. Emmett thrust out his large pale arms, catching his brother before the blonde could topple to the ground.

"You!" Emmett bellowed out, staring with wide golden eyes at the Witch standing not four feet from them.

Just as the giant charge towards her, she flickered out of sight, leaving him stopping short just before the wall. Almost. He winced as the wall cracked and caved in around his shoulder, bracing himself for Esme's scolding. He didn't have to wait long. "Emmett Cullen!"

The two Cullen parents were downstairs with the rest of them before Tanya could blink, right when the Witchdoctor flickered back into the room. She stood slightly behind Bella, sticking close and shaking her head. "Has everyone gone bloody mad around here? You're the only one who hasn't been openly hostile with me." When Bella turned to look at her, the Witch's nose crinkled up before she took a large whiff of her shoulder. She took a step backwards, waving a hand in front of her face. "Now I see why, you're absolutely _soaking_ in black magic. You must be the reason I'm here."

"This is the Witchdoctor?" Carlisle asked with wonder in his voice. He ran a hand through his blonde hair, stepping closer.

She tilted her head to the side, smiling funnily. "You're aware that _you_ all invited _me_ here. You're acting positively baffling. Attacking me. Questioning who I am."

"Okay," Tanya began loudly, holding her arms up in the air until everyone fell silent. Well, almost silent. Bella's tuneful humming filled the living room, but other than that all eyes were on the blonde, waiting for what she had to say. "Let's just get everything clear. You're the Witchdoctor?"

"Eve," the girl nodded happily. "And yes, I am. Your sister summoned me."

"Whoops." Emmett grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck while Jasper stared at the ground embarrassed.

Kate bit her lip, shrugging her shoulders at Eve. "Sorry about the welcoming. We're all a little on edge around here."

"I should say!" Eve pointed up at Bella whose image blurred slightly. Alice gasped, jerking forward to clutch her arm, gaping up as she watched Bella revert to how she looked when they found her. Her eyes just empty black pools of ink staring back down at her curiously, her skin deathly pale.

Snarling, Alice glared over her mate's shoulder at the new Witch. "What did you do?!" She growled furiously, shaking as dark veins spread up from Bella's neck to her jaw, down from her sleeves to her hands. "What's happening, what are you doing to her?!"

Both Kate and Tanya also rounded on them, Kate grabbing her younger sister's arm and wrenching her sleeve back, running her fingers over the dark veins. It was faint, and it wasn't every single vein, but it was enough to cause worry. More worry.

Eve stepped back, frowning. "I've done nothing but taken a closer look. She had a glamour up to alter her appearance, a lot of Black Witches do."

"She's not a black Witch!" Tanya hissed.

These people were absolutely bonkers… "She is. I've studied it enough to be able to pick it up in a Witch, despite the glamour. And now look for yourself." Eve shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "I must admit I've no idea why you summoned me here. If you've captured a Black Witch, you can turn her over to the council yourself."

"What?!" Alice wrapped her arms around Bella, pulling her away from everyone else. "No one's taking her anywhere. She's staying with me."

"Someone's done this to her." Kate said. "She's not a Black Witch, she's just under a spell. We have the actual Witch responsible downstairs."

The Witchdoctor seemed to muse this over in her head a couple times while she chewed on her bottom lip. "Hmm, yes I suppose someone else's magic _could_ do that, with enough juice behind it. " Ignoring Alice's warning rumble in her chest, Eve stepped around Bella to give a closer inspection. "Some kind of infection spell?" She lifted her hand, pressing it against the girl's forehead before ripping it away quickly with a hiss of pain.

"What happened? What is it?" Esme asked worriedly, grabbing Carlisle's hand tightly.

"_Intuneric ceata._" Eve said gravely, the happy and friendly look on her face finally wiped off. At all the blank looks she received, she sighed and elaborated. "A fancy magical term that basically means crazy fog."

Alice's golden eyes widened. "Fog! Yes, that's what Bella said. That a fog was infecting her mind and-"

"Taking everything from her," Eve finished.

The sisters exchanged looks again. "So you've come across this a few times before. You know how to treat her, how to fix her."

"Yes and no." The girl said. She fidgeted on spot, wringing her hands behind her back. "I've seen it only a few times, this will be the fourth. It's a _dark_ and powerful spell, not easy to cast and even harder to hear about. I will need to know where your Witch learnt it from."

Surprisingly, it was Emmett who spoke up next with a protective scowl on his face. "That can wait, right now you need to fix Bella."

"Yes, of course." Eve smiled feebly, taking Bella's hand in hers. "Shall we venture to the basement? That is where your captive is kept?"

With another rumble in her chest, Alice tugged Bella closer to her. "Yes," she muttered, frowning over at the Witch and started leading everyone to the basement.

The silence was uncomfortable and this time there was no hum of Bella's to fill it or break the ice. After a moment, Carlisle cleared his voice. "Eve, might I ask your age?"

"I'm twenty three," she chirped happily.

He frowned and looked over to her curiously. "Aren't you a little young to be a doctor?"

"Aren't you a little old to be alive?"

Carlisle cracked a little smile. "Well I'm not _really_ alive."

"Well I'm not really a doctor." Her own little crooked grin was much more charming than his.

Downstairs in the basement, Rosalie stood by the stairs with her arms crossed over her chest. The blonde vampire's golden eyes had long since faded into a burning amber that flashed dangerously when she spotted the new Witch. She stared the girl down before wordlessly moving aside and letting them by, her gaze landing on her sister's mate. "Bella," she murmured quietly.

"That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet," the pale Witch replied with a nod.

Across the room Edward stood in front of the chair Jessica was chained to. His hands were in his pockets, though judging by his hair they spent more time up there. He had spent the better part of the past three hours trying to get into the girl's mind which was, as he suspected, more difficult that anyone thought. Jessica couldn't bring up the walls that any of the Swan sisters could, but she was scarily obsessed with Bella. It was all she ever thought about.

Not even what she did to the girl or how, like he was hoping. Not the consequences of her actions, or the effects it was having on 'her love' or anything of the sort. She thought about the blue of Bella's eye, and the contrast to her brown one. The length of her hair, and if she ever saw it up in a tie, or curled. The clothes she wore, and her shoes the first time they met. What she thought about most, though, was Bella's magic. Apparently her aura was bright and thick, what had caught her attention in the first place and drew her in like a powerful beacon. She described it as glowing magic that seeped out of Isabella in strong waves that she couldn't stop drowning in.

Edward had heard Tanya and Kate talk about it enough to know that Bella's knowledge of their heritage was quite vast, and wasn't surprised to learn she had formidable magic at her fingertips.

"I've got nothing from her." He told the others when they approached. His eyes zeroed in on the new Witch and a second later he was crumpling backwards and holding his forehead, hissing in pain.

Eve jumped and covered her mouth with wide eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry! My, you're a mind reader, aren't you?"

"I am," he grunted, straitening up and trying to shake out the cold pain in his brain_. _"What-"

"Defence mechanism," she waved him off. "Sorry, I didn't know you were going to try and read my mind. I would have warned you."

In the chair, with her wrists burning, her stomach growling, and her head hurting, Jessica looked up at the commotion going on. Her eyes met a pair of onyx pits staring down at the pixie and her lips curved up into a smile, the pain in her body subsiding. "Isabella! You've returned to me!"

Alice's snarl shook the basement, drowning out Kate's cussing. Esme put her hand on Alice's shoulder, in hopes to calm her down, but the vampire pulled away and tucked herself under Bella's arm, choosing to glare silently at the Witch. "-and I'm going to return my foot to your ass!" Kate finished her long line of threats.

"I knew you would, my love, I've been waiting," she continued, as if the uproar never happened.

The pale Witch's head tilted to the side, a big sigh heaving her shoulders. _"Round and around and around and around we go…_" she sang quietly.

"You're the one who has cast the spell upon Bella here?" Eve asked, stepping forward to look down at the girl. "What is your Blood name?"

Jessica's face morphed into a scowl as she gazed up at Eve. "None of your business!" she spat out.

"Right," Eve murmured, raising her hand up. She swept it across Jessica's image and hummed, ignoring her snarled complaints of being read. "The Council will deal with your transgressions and you will be punished as seen fit." She looked over at Kate and Tanya. "I will take her for you. I've got to record this anyways and it's best they not know of your evolvement with vampires."

Tanya nodded with a hesitant smile. "Thank you."

"As for you," she turned back to Jessica and sighed deeply. "Let's see if I can't free you from the poisonous grasp your illness has on you."

"Illness?" Carlisle asked.

Shrugging her shoulders, Eve crouched down and started rummaging around in the giant leather bag at her feet. She inwardly snickered when she heard Esme gasp and ask Jasper if that was there a second ago. "Jealousy, insecurities, depression, obsessive nature, desperation, amongst many others. Not exactly an illness, as you would understand it, but I believe I can help her."

"Why bother?" Edward asked with a furrowed brow. "Look what she's done to Bella, to my sister. The danger she put my mate and her sister in. The trouble she's caused us. Why help her after all she has done?"

Eve blew her bangs out of her eyes, finding his own. "I'm a doctor, that's what I do. I help anyone who needs it, and she needs it. Just think, if someone had helped this poor girl years ago, when she first started to spiral, none of this would have happened. She could have a life of her own, happiness, joy. Sorrows and sadness, hard times too. Comes with the package. But she would be okay. And so would Bella." She paused, offering him a grin. "It's never a bad decision to help someone."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here! I don't need your help! I want my Isabella, I demand you let me-"

"Sleep," Eve commanded and Rosalie watched in amusement as Jessica's head fell, her body slumping in the chair.

With that settled, the Witchdoctor continued to feel around in her bag. Alice, with her arms around Bella and her fingers playing with the hem of her shirt, stared up at her mate. She traced the dark veins she could see with her eyes, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. The emotions in her chest were conflicted, caught between relief that she finally had her mate back with her, worry that she'd never be fixed, would never see _her_ Bella again. Anger and rage at Jessica for doing this, for breaking her Bella. For wanting her Bella. Happy that even though she couldn't say her name, Bella kept glancing down at her. Hadn't let go of her hand, and now had her own arm wrapped securely around Alice's waist.

There was a warmth that burned in her chest, love and hope maybe, because even though Jessica had taken Bella's memories, had put lies in her head and tried to twist her, change her…she hadn't been able to take her emotions. How she felt.

How she felt for Alice, because the pixie could see it in those black eyes.

The ragged Witch gave a lopsided grin to Alice, earning a small giggle in return. Sitting back in the couch with Rosalie next to him, Emmett's golden eyes slowly widened. His ears picked at the humming coming from Eve, and when he knew for sure just what tune it was she was singing in her head, his mouth fell open. The blonde looked over at her husband curiously, leaning in to quietly ask him what he was doing when-

"OOO EEE, OOO AH AH TING TANG WALLA WALLA BING BANG!" he nearly screamed, gripping his hair with the biggest smile Rosalie had seen in seventy years. "I cannot believe _you're_ singing that song in your head, you just made my existence! Rosie! Rosie, she's singing it!"

A noise of triumph escaped Eve and she stood up, thrusting a golden dagger into the air. Emmett's joyous look froze on his face and Eve snorted. "I'm not going to poke you, don't worry. This is to help Bella."

"You're going to stab her?" Alice asked with a bite.

Eve rolled her eyes. "Of course not, don't be silly. But there is some…less than ideal news. I am hesitant to bring it up, but you must know."

"What is it?" Esme knew there was bad news. There had been a sense of dread hanging around in the air all afternoon, and the girl's _yes and no_ answer earlier was something Esme had been hung up on.

"Well," she breathed. "I can get rid of this nasty fog that has infected her, take it all from her so that it stops eating away at her mind. Essentially I can take out the crazy."

Jasper shook his head with a confused look. "That's good. That's what we want you to do. Very ideal."

"No, well, yeah, but… I've done this before, taken out the fog but the fog is always all that's left. When it's gone…there's nothing else. I can't return what was taken because I don't have it. The other three…they've been put under observation for years now. Shells is the only adequate word I could use to describe them," Eve explained. "Strangers to themselves."

The hollowness returned to Alice chest and she found it more than difficult to breathe. "What?"

"You _can't_ fix her?" Tanya asked weakly, like someone had taken the strength from even her voice.

Before she could react, Bella was pulling out of Alice's grip. She turned the vampire to face her, resting her forehead against the cool one. Alice's eyes felt heavy with tears that wouldn't ever fall and she took a deep breath, gazing up into her love's eyes. She struggled to smile when Bella grabbed her hand, placing it over a beating heart. _"It's in the stars, it's been written in the scars on our hearts, we're not broken just bent."_

"I cannot, but Bella seems to have optimism."

_"And we can learn to love again."_

Sheepishly, Eve pulled Bella forward and away from Alice with an apologetic smile. "Alright, this won't hurt a bit. For you. I can't promise the same to Jessica. Just stand still, Bella, and brace yourself for clarity."

Eve began chanting words under her breath, incantations in a different language that neither Tanya nor Kate had ever heard before. They watched as she lifted Jessica's hand and dragged the golden dagger down it. With her free hand, she turned and smeared the blood across Bella's face and held her palm there. Alice heard Bella gasp and just as she made to move, Eve yanked her hand back in a closed fist.

A shadowy fog figure was ripped out of Bella, like the girl's shadow in corporeal form standing in front of her, and Edward marvelled at the sight until it crumpled to the ground and dissipated, leaving Eve doubled over and gasping, trying to catch her breath. Alice stepped forward, her hand reaching for Bella's elbow and flinched when her mate took in a shuddering breath. "Bella…?"

"What-" Bella looked down at her hands, her brows furrowed and a deep frown set on her face. Confused, she looked over her shoulder to find that enchanting voice, meeting a pair of wide golden eyes. Her own had cleared up quite a bit, the ink pools taken from her with the fog, leaving a deep blue and warm chocolate brown iris shining in its wake. However, intentionally or not, she _had_ absorbed too much of the Black Magic that it took to cast the spell, and the effects were still apparent. The large purple circles under her eyes were worse than a starving vampire's, and the dark veins were spreading up from her neck to her jaw and reaching her temples.

When those mismatched eyes landed on Alice, she found no recognition. No spark of anything that was familiar and she shivered, slowly shaking her head. Forgotten. Her mate, her other half, her one true love, had forgotten her. Yes, it wasn't Bella's fault, but still, it hurt more than anything. At least before it was still there, somewhere, hidden, but there. This was worse, there was…nothing left.

"No."

Her family gave her strange looks but Alice ignored them. She shook her head again, a little more firm now, her voice hard. "No." She would have her mate back, she would have Bella. This whole mess…it was done. Over. Tanya, Kate, and even Jessica always _raved_ about how powerful Bella's magic was, how smart she was. It was about time the girl finally proved them right, and Alice would be happy again. It was time Bella saved herself.

So the pixie reached up and grabbed the girl's shirt, yanking her forward and into her personal space. Bella stumbled against her marble frame, offering a confused and halfhearted apology as she tried to steady herself, and Alice pulled her down until their noses bumped against each other. She tightened her hold, her voice shaking with barely concealed emotion as she put everything into this last ditch effort to restore everything as it was again.

Bella felt her breath catch in her throat at the burning look those golden pools were giving her and unconsciously licked her dry lips. This boggling tiny girl's voice made her shiver, her words oddly familiar, "Find that chest, Bella."

And before she could make a move, Alice leaned up on her tip toes, cool petals brushing against Bella's lips. She poured all she had into the kiss; her hope and love, worries and doubts, her blinding rage at Jessica, and the blissful light feeling she got whenever those blue and brown eyes landed on her. Bella's warm skin was smooth under her fingertips when she slid her hand up the girl's neck, into those dark locks, trying to escape the dreary basement and leave London behind them.

It was too soon but she knew she had to pull back to let Bella breath, and with a reluctant sigh she did so, slowly looking up to see the Witch's reaction.

Those mismatched eyes were wide and trained on her in awe, Bella's lips still puckered up. After a moment she let out a trembling breath and the corner of her mouth curved up a little bit. Alice giggled and stepped back, freezing when something crunched under her feet. She looked down and gasped, staggering backwards again, her eyes scanning the grass beneath her feet. She whirled around, taking in their surroundings, her brows furrowed.

"Bella, where…why are we in a cemetery?"

The ragged Witch shook her head again, wondering why this person kept calling her Bella. Was that her name? Wait…what _was_ her name?! How had she forgotten her own name? "I…" She shook her head, looking around helplessly. Her eyes zeroed in on the two closest gravestones and she faltered, frowning. Those names…they were familiar.

_Charles Swan. Renee Swan._

She didn't have long to dwell on those names or why she felt like she should know them, because her eyes caught those of a little girl just beyond their graves. Again, she was struck with such an overwhelming sense of familiarity and frustration that she couldn't place them. Bella practically glared at the girl and her blue and brown eyes. "Who are you?"

Alice looked from Bella and to the graves. "Bella, what's wrong?" This was where she stored the chest? With her parents? "Who are you talking to? Eve said you wouldn't be crazy anymore!"

The Witch paused, looking back to Alice with wide eyes. "I'm crazy?"

Sighing, the little girl crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. "Not anymore, now you're just kinda empty. Missing this," she said, holding up her palm.

Bella gasped as a small golden chest appeared in her hand, giving off a faint glow that burned in time with her heartbeat. "Hey…that's mine." She didn't know what it was or how she knew, but that chest… "That's mine!"

"You want it?" The girl asked and Bella nodded. "Then you'll finally have to deal with me."

The Witch shook her head confusedly. "Who are you?"

"I'm Bella," she replied with a toothy grin, pushing her big glasses up her little nose.

"Who's Bella?" Bella asked. She'd heard that name so many times now.

Alice frowned, stepping forward. "You are." She told her mate who was talking to…herself? Or the graves?

"I'm also Irina," In the time it took Bella to blink, the little girl was gone, and in her place stood a tall, beautiful blonde girl with happy green eyes and a carefree smile. The small golden chest sat in her hand. "Renee, Carmen, Charlie, Eleazer." The Witch watched in wonder as this…thing changed its form over and over with each name. Eleazer took a deep breath and held out his arms with a grin. "I'm everyone and no one. Everything to you, and nothing to your soul mate there."

Bella stepped backwards, closer to Alice. She didn't know why, but things felt safer the closer the pixie was. "What are you?"

"Guilt," he replied simply. At her confused look, he elaborated and walked around the graves, looking down at them. "A magical manifestation of your guilt, to be more specific. And you've been ignoring me for quite a few years now. It's time to deal."

"Deal? What do you mean?" Bella asked.

Eleazer hummed to himself, staring up at the grey sky. "Deal with me, with what you did. You've spent years burying me down and down and down. But then that pesky fog started spreading and you took everything important and put it in here, me included. Why did you do that? Why wouldn't you leave your guilt behind?"

"I don't understand," Bella cried, shaking her head.

"Of course not," he agreed. "You'd need this to understand…well, just about everything, hm?" He held up the chest.

The Witch stepped forward, reaching out. "Then give it to me."

"Uh uh," Irina held up a finger and Bell flinched back, amazed at how quick this thing could change forms. "I feel I should warn you because I _am_ part of you, and I'd want to know what I was getting myself into before hand. You've got a choice here," she cleared her throat. "One; you could walk away. Start over, a new beginning, a new leaf, no old ties holding you back. A clean cut and chance to make new memories. Better ones."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Bella murmured. "What's the second one?"

Irina grinned. "Option number two, aka draaaamaaa. You take the chest _and_ me with it. It's your past, ugly and rough, with more scars than Jasper, a tiny little light threatened to be snuffed out in all the darkness that seems to constantly try to drown you. It's not the ideal history and probably not something one would choose…but it's yours. Who you are, or perhaps were."

She frowned. "Sounds less than thrilling." Bella sighed, running a hand through her hair and looked down at her feet. She turned to get input from… the other girl with her, the one who kissed her, and paused. "My past…she is in it?"

"Yes."

Bella gazed at Alice, the ink black hair, cropped short and sticking up in every direction. A charming mess of spikes. Her big golden eyes looking up at her hopefully, with a warmth and concern she could hardly comprehend. Smooth, pale skin, with a little button nose, and a cute smile. The thought of not knowing her…

"Give me the chest."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**buh-bam. **

**This chapter was kinda hard to spit out. But yay for Bella, she gets to be herself again! And yay for Alice, she gets her mate back. I was scared there for a second, thought maybe Bella would take option number one. And Eve's here! HUZZAH! I like Eve, what about you guys? **

**Well, review I guess. I'd appreciate it. **

**-Paige.**


	25. Chapter 25

_BELLA_

The manour was unusually quiet that morning. The dreary day outside reflected the atmosphere in the attic, rain pelting against the window and drowning out any other noises. The grandfather clock across the room ticked, my eyes following the pendulum swinging back and forth. Back and forth. I sighed, rubbing my tired eyes, groaning in frustration.

My ring was tucked away safe and sound in the top drawer of Tanya's dresser, where she'd put it three days, seventeen hours, and a handful of minutes ago. Minutes were just too hard to count. Yeah, I was going a little crazy, but I hadn't reached minute counting crazy yet. Or...I hadn't gone back to it yet?

Hmm. Things were still a little unclear, a little hazy for me. I couldn't remember much after the fight with all the warlocks in the Cullens' front yard, and part of me was thankful. I'd never felt so...there wasn't even a word to describe the state I was in when I'd gotten that chest back. No one would really talk about it, either, and when Tanya had no words, you knew things were bad.

The little bits and pieces I could remember didn't seem to help me figure anything out. They were confusing and sometimes downright nonsensical. Like troll hair. That was the clearest thing I could remember, troll hair. What the hell was that supposed to mean? I did know that the spell Jessica used (Jessica of all people! What the hell, to that too!) was powerful and dark. I'd heard of it a couple times in passing over the years, and to know that I'd been infected with it...

Honestly, I was surprised I was still around and not locked up somewhere, drooling down my chin. Though even with the Witchdoctor's help, I wasn't at one hundred percent again. While the spell had infected my mind, all the dark magic it took infected my body. I'd become the horror stories Charlie used to tell us to make us behave. A Dark Witch. Or Black Witch, depending on your culture, but I always felt kinda racist when I said it.

Eve had said that the best thing I could do was step away from all magic until it was drained out of my system, so Tanya and Kate had gone around and started locking things up. My wicca chest in my room. They'd cleared out the attic, where I currently sat on the couch. They took my potions and ring, medallions, salts, gems, basically all my ingrediants. Duchess was kept in Kate's room, under lock and key, and Tanya pinched me every time I used an incantation or my affinity.

But, like, pinched me really, _really_ hard. I had bruises!

The withdrawl from dark magic was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. The magic was strong, powerful, and I could feel it in my body. Pulsing through my veins, coursing through my being, ready to be unleashed. It was addictive, and just the thought of it made my fingers twitch.

"Stop it," I huffed to myself quietly. I looked down at my hands, the faded black veins a stark contrast against my pale skin. A reminder of what I'd lose myself to if I gave in. Dark witches were...evil. Okay, maybe that was a little much, they weren't _all_ evil, but none of them were good. Fallen from grace and the scum of the magical community, to be locked up on sight. Even those known to help them were punished. I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself, looking back out the window.

Alice was out there, somewhere, hunting with her family. This was the first time since they'd found me in the woods that she had left my side, and only because I pleaded with her to go. She'd had darker circles under her eyes than me, and I knew she was in pain. Vampires couldn't starve, according to Carlisle, but he said the longer they went without blood, the more it hurt. Burned. Until they were consumed with hunger.

Nobody around here needed that. We'd had enough drama to last a life time, and I felt bad knowing that it was my fault. Jessica's fault, really, but who wouldn't blame themselves just a little if in my shoes? Intentionally or not, I was the cause of this.

"_That's very true. You are the cause of this,"_ Irina agreed, perched on the seat in the window. _"How very objective of you."_

Yet another grievance in my life. My guilt followed me around everywhere, in a much more literal sense than common. She...he? It was always there, always yammering in my ear about this and that. Not taking the trash out. Unintentionally killing family and friends. Blaming Kate for Tanya's last muffin going missing. Absolutely everything wrong I did, it swooped in, throwing it all in my face.

Between it and the dark magic and everyone treating me like a glass doll, I was going to lose my mind! Again!

Charlie sighed, his moustache twitching. _"Yeah, 'cause that's what we all need. Another loop around the crazy bend."_

"Would you shut up for _one_ second!" I seethed, burying my face in a couch cushion.

The door of the attic cracked open, Kate sticking her head inside. "Bella? What are you doing up here?" She asked, walking into the room.

I lifted my head from the cushion enough to peek up at her. My face was buried in the couch at one end, knees digging into the crack at the other and butt sticking in the air, with my hands trying to strangle the arm of the couch in front of me. I couldn't exactly grab my guilt, but if I could it wouldn't be breathing. No sir! "Yoga," I replied slowly, sitting up on my heels and reaching towards the ceiling. "This is where I do my yoga. It's very peaceful. What do you want?"

She raised an eyebrow at me but didn't comment, sitting down on the arm of the couch I'd just been trying to kill. "You weren't in your room, so I came looking for you. You wanna do something today?"

"You mean, when you didn't know my exact location for a split second, you panicked and thought I'd gone off the deep end again or started slaughtering the townsfolk of Forks?" I asked with a scowl.

Kate sighed, giving me a look. "Bella."

"No, hey, I get it." I said, holding my hands up. "Bella's a psychotic Dark Witch now. I'm just so glad I have your guys' faith. Really, it's heartwarming to know how much you trust me."

She reached over and flicked me, with a glare on her face. "It's not like that, Bella. You were gone for..._so_ long, you almost died, we almost couldn't bring you back. You can't blame us for keeping a closer eye on you. We lost you once, we don't want to lose you again."

The grandfather clock chimed twice and I sighed deeply, chewing on my nails. "Sorry. Just...sorry. I'm just feeling a little...ansty. Jittery. I-I-I don't like this, my blood is itchy. Maybe if I just had my ring back?"

"You know I can't do that, Bella. No magic. It will get better, you'll see." Kate patted my knee, getting to her feet. "Now come downstairs for some lunch before the Cullens get back, hm?"

I watched her leave back through the door again, my feeble smile falling into a grimace.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Oh, I love this episode!" Alice chimed, pointing at the television screen. She bounced on the couch next to me, golden eyes wide with excitement.

Chuckling at her antics, I nodded my head. "Hmm, yeah, it's a good one."

The pixie looked over at me, her smile dimming. "What wrong, Bella?"

"Nothing," I lied. "Really, I'm just a little tired. I can't sleep lately."

Alice frowned, muting the television as she grabbed my hand. "Are you still unconsciously absorbing our energy?"

Yeah. I wish. At least then I would know how to stop it. "No, no I'm just..." I cleared my throat, bloodshot eyes stinging, and took a shaky breath. "I'm fine. Just a bout of insomnia."

"Please don't lie to me, Bella." Alice said and I frowned. Damn it, I hated when Alice got that look. Hurt and disappointed. Gosh, it was like the only face she had around me anymore. It's not like she could help me even if she did know I was having withdrawl, so why bother telling her. She'd just get depressed.

She watched me play with a lock of my hair, twisting it around and around my finger. "F-fine. I'm just...quitting magic cold turkey is harder than it sounds. Sometimes I feel a l-little...you know," I made a face.

"I understand," Alice nodded with a warm smile. "I know what it's like to deal with addiction, Bella. Sometimes just the thought of blood makes me hungry. Maybe you could talk to Carlisle about your magic, he's really helpful with learning self-control."

My fingers trembled and I had to bite my lip to keep the sarcastic snipes at bay. "It's, uh, it's not the same, Alice," I laughed weakly, shaking my head.

"Trust me, Bella. He can help," she insisted, squeezing my hand. Her eyes were so hopeful, her smile so kind and sweet, and all I could do was sit there, struggling to not snap at her. "The desire to give in gets overwhelming sometimes, until all you can focus on is the hunger. There's nothing else but the flame in your throat."

Oh god, no. No, it wasn't...

Not her fault. It's not her fault. She's just trying to help...don't snap... but every. Single. Time. _Every_ time they said they understood, it made me burn. Lit the fuse. They didn't understand. They didn't!

I heaved in a deep breath, holding my head in my hands and stared down at my feet. "No, it's not like that. I'm not _starving_ myself, Alice!"

"Bella-" she tried but it was too late. She'd opened the gate and I couldn't stop all my frustration and anger, my annoyance and rage from seeping out.

I roughly pushed myself to my feet, pressing the heel of my palm into my forehead, trying to make it stop throbbing. "You don't get it...none of you get it..." I muttered, chewing on my lip until it stung. "You have no idea what it's like to have the entire world at your fingertips and do _nothing_! I can make the sky tremble but instead I'm standing here trying to make you comprehend the unknowable." I whined in frustration, heart hammering in my chest. "None of you can possibly understand what I'm going through!"

Alice was up on her feet, face ablaze with a fury I'd never seen before. She jabbed her finger in my chest, hard enough that I knew there'd be a bruise when I looked, and stalked forward until my back met the wall. "No, _you_ don't seem to understand, Bella." Her voice was calm and even, yet more intimidating than my rage. "We're just trying to help you. _I'm_ just trying to help you because I _do_ know how hard this is. Don't you dare try to lecture me about the temptation of power, little girl, I've been struggling with it for more than one hundred years. You may be able to make the sky tremble, but if I ever gave in-" Alice leaned in, her cheek grazing mine, cool breath tickling my ear. "I'd bathe the world in blood."

Holy _shite_!

The rage that plagued me seconds ago vanished, replaced with trepidation at her words, her tone. The look on her face and the seriousness in her eyes that told me she wasn't joking, she wasn't exaggerating for the benefit of the situation.

Was it bad that a part of me found it insanely attractive? I knew it was probably the dark magic's shadow in my emotions, and my desire of power realizing the abundance that Alice had, but still. Hot damn.

I took a shuddering breath, slowly reaching up to tuck away the lock of black hair that had fallen in her face, resting my hand on her cheek. "I'm sorry," I whispered. Alice's burning amber eyes flickered down, watching my other hand gently grip her waist. A majority of her anger had left as well, the second our skin touched, and I could see her inner struggle of trying to hold onto it.

But, I mean, really, she expected me to do nothing about the position we were in? She lightly glared back up at me, her posture not so stiff anymore. "Bella," she cautioned, her voice almost stern.

"I don't want to fight." I said innocently with a shrug of my shoulders. "I didn't mean to snap at you, I'm just so frustrated and angry lately. This is all so much harder than I thought it would be, and I know you guys want to help me but there's nothing you can do to make the pain stop." I sighed, resting my forehead against hers. "But I don't want to yell at you anymore. I don't want to fight with any of you. I just want things to be how they were again."

The pixie wrapped her arms around me, holding me closer to her. "I know, Bella, so do I. It's going to take time until we get there again." She looked up at me, golden eyes burning. "We _will_ get there, though. I promise."

I nodded, giving her a small smile that she attacked with her lips.

We would get there again, I'd make sure of it.

And I knew the quickest way.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The tiny little screen lit up, Alice's name and a smiley face greeting me. I smiled, pocketing my phone and sidestepping a couple walking the opposite way I was. Other people scrambled around the street, desperate in their last minute shopping.

Honestly, I was a little surprised how many people were still out on Christmas Eve, not that I could blame them. I'd had a couple more things to pick up for Tanya and Rosalie, mostly just stocking stuffers, but still.

My breath curled out in the crisp night air as I whistled a Christmas tune under my breath. It was beautiful that night, not too cold, but still enough to give you rosy cheeks and a pink nose. The sky was almost completely clear with bright stars shining down on me, snow flakes blowing through the air and landing on my coat.

Someone's hand gripped the material of my coat and I was violently dragged into an empty alleyway and shoved against the metal dumpster. My bag of presents slid through the snow beneath the dumpster, my shoulder throbbing. I looked up at my attacker, faultering when I met the familiar face of Jessica.

Uhhhh. Wasn't she supposed to be in Council custody?

Was this seriously how bad my luck was?

"Isabella," she breathed out with a small smile. Relieved, like I'd been...I don't know, kidnapped again? "It's so good to see your face again, I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to."

The snow froze my already numb fingers when I pushed myself back up to my feet. "I thought Eve was taking you to the Council?"

Jessica shrugged her shoulders. "I gave her the slip when we ran into some trouble. My grandpa is very protective of me and he has a lot of friends."

"Is she okay?"

The smile on her face fell, eyes zeroing in on my hands. "She got away – what do you think you're doing? Are you really going to use your affinity on me, Isabella? Have you not learned that you can't beat me?" She opened her coat up to show me the hunk of silver hanging around her neck, shaped like a pentagram with old Romanian script enraved on it. A protection amulet.

"Well that's just cheating," I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest.

She stepped forward, clasping her hands in front of her. "Can't you see that we're meant to be, Isabella? Nothing can keep us apart, not even that Witchdoctor. Please, just come with me. We can runaway together, start a new life somewhere else."

I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "I'm getting really sick of this, Jessica."

"I'm trying to make this easy for you, my love." She said, her tone losing the warmth. "I want you to _choose_ me this time, but I won't take no for an answer. You're coming with me either way."

The wind swept through the alley we were in, dancing with our hair and my scarf. I looked down towards the end and the empty street, wondering if anyone could see us from there. Doubtful. "You're going to be very disappointed then, Jess." She stepped forwards again, a pout on her face and I raised my hand up, looking at the pale skin. "Your dark spell there had a nifty little sideaffect."

"I didn't want to have to do this." She said with a frown, reaching out-

The veins in the back of my hand grew darker until they reached that faded black again, spreading up my wrists and reaching towards my elbows. I knew there were a couple in my neck and face, the whites of my eyes matching. My dark magic breaking through the glamour I'd had up. I looked up, watching Jessica pinned against the brick wall, struggling against nothing. "The Council lied to us. They said Dark Magic was an evil power that corrupts the host, a taint that all Wiccan should be wary of and take precautions against. They're wrong. It's not power, it's _knowledge_."

Jessica groaned in pain as the pressure holding her against the wall strengthened. I tilted my head to the side, marvelling at the energy surrounding her, watching it pulse and dance, moving like water, looking like glowing dust. "Did you know that absolutely everything, everywhere has its own energy? Can you even imagine the potential here? I have you to thank for this, Jessica. You've opened up a whole new world to me."

She gasped when I disappeared from view, Blinking right up in front of her like the Warlocks from the the fight. I leaned in close, watching her try to shrink back away from me, and pressed my fingers against her forehead. "Unfortunately you hurt Alice in the process, and I won't let that go unpunished."

Her eyes filled up with black ink as she slid down the wall, staring off into space. Infected by the_ Intuneric Ceata_ spell, like she had done to me all those days go. I crouched down, waving my hand in front of her unresponsive face and smirked. "Okay, maybe it's a little power too."

"_Brava,"_ Irina hummed, clapping her hands as she leaned against the wall next to Jessica. _"That was spectacularly dramatic. And infecting her with the spell she used on you? Poetic justice, I tell you."_

I stood back up, dusting the snow off of my coat. "I don't feel bad. She was sick and she did it to me first. I'm entitled to my own revenge." My eyes locked on hers and narrowed. "I have nothing to feel guilty about. Begone!"

"_Did I say anything about guilt?"_

"Stop looking at me then," I snapped, waving my hand at the dumpster and watching it fly off down the alley.

Carmen was there in my face again when I straightened up from grabbing my bag of presents. I huffed, turning my back on it and walked back out to the street. _"So your conscience is clean then?"_

"Yes," I insisted, crossing my arms over my chest. My skin tingled as the glamour settled over me again, eyes shooting back over to Jessica's slumped form. She sat in the snow, face pink from the cold, lost in her own head. "She deserves it."

"_Hmm, right. Right,"_ it nodded, rubbing its hands together and blowing on them. Could a manifestation of my psyche get cold? _"What about your sisters? Alice? Have you told anyone about the dark magic yet? I think they'd probably want to know you're using."_

My jaw clenched. "They don't need to know. I'm in control. I'm fine. Now leave me alone!" I snarled, whirling around to grab the man walking past. He gasped, looking at me with wide eyes, like I was insane. Who just randomly grabs people these days? "Where is the nearest homeless shelter?" He stared blankly at me. "Homeless shelter, where is it!"

The man spluttered, pointing in a vague direction. "On f-fifth!"

"Thank you, merry _Christmas_!" I growled, shoving him off down the sidewalk and stalking back into the alley towards Jessica. My hand gripped the front of her coat, jerking her up to her feet. She was like a giant ragdoll. "She deserves to freeze after everything she's done to me, but if it gets you to leave me alone, I'll drop her off at the shelter."

As I gazed upon her blank face, eyes void of anything; thoughts, emotions, light, I felt the briefest of flickers in my chest. My innocence, or perhaps the old Bella, fading away with a whimper in the night.

My last regret for a long time to come.

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Kind of an abrupt end. And a shorter chapter, but that's because it's an epilogue of sorts. The VERY LAST CHAPTER of MAGICK. **

**Don't go jumping down my throat about all the things left unfinished, unsaid, undone, etc. This isn't the end of the story, Bella's story. This is just the end of the first book. The sequel is already in planning stages, but I won't start putting it out until I've done some other things first. But what you can look forward to in it is: Bella's new addiction to Dark Magic, her struggle with her Guilt, the Volturi finding out about Wiccans still being alive, and the Wiccan's reaction. Those are just the pig plot points, theres a few smaller ones, like wedding bells for SOMEONE. When the time comes, I'll post a note chapter here in this story announcing the beginning of the next so you don't have to keep an active eye out. **

**So, yeah. My very first finished multi-chapter, full length story. Twenty five chapters, four hundred and thirty nine pages, one hundred thirty seven thousand, one hundred and twenty words. It's not much and not the best, though I am proud of it (will definitely be going through and polishing it off a wee bit however), I want to thank those of you who have stuck by _Magick_ and myself. It took some time and I know it couldn't have been easy trying to stay interested in a story with months between updates. But we made it.**

**I'm not so good with these author notes, guys. I don't really know what to say. Sitting here kinda struggling a little bit. I really want to convey how thankful I am for your time and dedication to this story, for all of your reviews and kind words. **

**So I just...I'll say thank you, and I want all of you to know that I mean it.**

**Thank you.**

**Feel free and encouraged to pm me or leave a review with questions about the sequel or anything _Magick_ related. I'll see you guys around. **

**...Around, like, one of my other stories. I have a billion, so this isn't goodbye. I'm not too good with those, either. Worse than a/n's. **

**Okay, I'm getting out of here before this horrible thing gets any worse and I start rambling about kangaroos and how they lead predators to bodies of water and drown them. **

**Seriously! If something's following them, they'll lead it to a body of water to drown it! This is an actual thing, guys! I'm terrified of kangaroos now, I'm... _not_ rambling.**

**-Paige.**


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